Andy Smarick has worked on k-12 education at the white house, the US Department of Education, the US Congress, a state legislature, and most recently as the deputy commissioner of a state department of education. He co-founded a college-preparatory charter school for disadvantaged students, served as a white house fellow, and earned a Bachelors degree, summa cum laude and with honors, and a Masters degree from the University of Maryland.

In this brilliant book, Andy Smarick pulls together three education reform movements -- charter schools, vouchers, and school district transformation -- and shows how they can combine into a dramatically more effective way to provide public education. Mayors, governors, superintendents, and educators will all find powerful new ideas about how to build a public education system that serves all children effectively and can respond as student populations and the demands of the economy change.

• IntroductionThe District as The SystemGovernment Services Through Multiple ProvidersChartering as The SystemManaging the Portfolio of SchoolsSection I: The Traditional Urban School DistrictChapter 1: The Failure of Urban DistrictsThe Role of Public Education in America’s CitiesContemporary ResultsLongstanding Under-performanceExplanation for the CrisisChapter 2: The Failure of ReformIncreases in FundingStandards and AccountabilityChoice and CompetitionSo What Went Wrong?Chapter 3: The Quality CurveDataChapter 4: The Failure of FixingWhy Do Failing Schools Survive?Yesterday’s and Today’s SchoolsThe Stickiness of FailureDefining Turnaround DownNCLB and Failing SchoolsOwning Up to Failed Improvement EffortsFlailing in the DarkStill in its Infancy?Keep DiggingMisunderstanding the Lessons of High-Performing, High-Poverty SchoolsBeyond EducationSection II: Urban Charter SchoolingChapter 5: The Charter RevolutionA New Type of SchoolThe Evolution of CharteringChartering and America’s CitiesThe Purposes and Potential of CharteringChapter 6: The Charter Quality CurveOff on the Wrong TrackVariations in Charter PerformanceCharter Performance DataCharter-District Distribution ComparisonsConclusionChapter 7: The Systemic Innovations of CharteringStarting NewDiversification: Removing Exclusive AuthorityAuthorizingOperatorsReplications and ExpansionsClosuresSection III: Urban Private SchoolingChapter 8: Private Schooling and the Public SystemThe Development of American Private EducationSeparating the SectorsReligion and Public SchoolsPrivate Schools and Public PolicyInternational Comparisons of Private EducationThe Disappearance of Inner-City Private SchoolsToward a SolutionChapter 9: The Private Quality Curve The Quality Distribution of Urban Private SchoolsPrivate Schools in MilwaukeeAdditional EvidenceConclusionSection IV: The Urban School System of the FutureChapter 10: Characteristics of the New SystemCloser Than We ThinkA Word about the DistrictPillars of the New SystemChancellor of the City School SystemAuthorizersSchool OperatorsPrivate SchoolsAdditional Issues to ConsiderConclusionChapter 11: Finishing the JobFrom District-centered to School-centeredThe Proliferation of ChoiceChurning the Schools PortfolioIntegrating the Three Sectors

Andy Smarick has worked on k-12 education at the white house, the US Department of Education, the US Congress, a state legislature, and most recently as the deputy commissioner of a state department of education. He co-founded a college-preparatory charter school for disadvantaged students, served as a white house fellow, and earned a Bachelors degree, summa cum laude and with honors, and a Masters degree from the University of Maryland.

In this brilliant book, Andy Smarick pulls together three education reform movements -- charter schools, vouchers, and school district transformation -- and shows how they can combine into a dramatically more effective way to provide public education. Mayors, governors, superintendents, and educators will all find powerful new ideas about how to build a public education system that serves all children effectively and can respond as student populations and the demands of the economy change.

• IntroductionThe District as The SystemGovernment Services Through Multiple ProvidersChartering as The SystemManaging the Portfolio of SchoolsSection I: The Traditional Urban School DistrictChapter 1: The Failure of Urban DistrictsThe Role of Public Education in America’s CitiesContemporary ResultsLongstanding Under-performanceExplanation for the CrisisChapter 2: The Failure of ReformIncreases in FundingStandards and AccountabilityChoice and CompetitionSo What Went Wrong?Chapter 3: The Quality CurveDataChapter 4: The Failure of FixingWhy Do Failing Schools Survive?Yesterday’s and Today’s SchoolsThe Stickiness of FailureDefining Turnaround DownNCLB and Failing SchoolsOwning Up to Failed Improvement EffortsFlailing in the DarkStill in its Infancy?Keep DiggingMisunderstanding the Lessons of High-Performing, High-Poverty SchoolsBeyond EducationSection II: Urban Charter SchoolingChapter 5: The Charter RevolutionA New Type of SchoolThe Evolution of CharteringChartering and America’s CitiesThe Purposes and Potential of CharteringChapter 6: The Charter Quality CurveOff on the Wrong TrackVariations in Charter PerformanceCharter Performance DataCharter-District Distribution ComparisonsConclusionChapter 7: The Systemic Innovations of CharteringStarting NewDiversification: Removing Exclusive AuthorityAuthorizingOperatorsReplications and ExpansionsClosuresSection III: Urban Private SchoolingChapter 8: Private Schooling and the Public SystemThe Development of American Private EducationSeparating the SectorsReligion and Public SchoolsPrivate Schools and Public PolicyInternational Comparisons of Private EducationThe Disappearance of Inner-City Private SchoolsToward a SolutionChapter 9: The Private Quality Curve The Quality Distribution of Urban Private SchoolsPrivate Schools in MilwaukeeAdditional EvidenceConclusionSection IV: The Urban School System of the FutureChapter 10: Characteristics of the New SystemCloser Than We ThinkA Word about the DistrictPillars of the New SystemChancellor of the City School SystemAuthorizersSchool OperatorsPrivate SchoolsAdditional Issues to ConsiderConclusionChapter 11: Finishing the JobFrom District-centered to School-centeredThe Proliferation of ChoiceChurning the Schools PortfolioIntegrating the Three Sectors

Andy Smarick has worked on k-12 education at the white house, the US Department of Education, the US Congress, a state legislature, and most recently as the deputy commissioner of a state department of education. He co-founded a college-preparatory charter school for disadvantaged students, served as a white house fellow, and earned a Bachelors degree, summa cum laude and with honors, and a Masters degree from the University of Maryland.

In this brilliant book, Andy Smarick pulls together three education reform movements -- charter schools, vouchers, and school district transformation -- and shows how they can combine into a dramatically more effective way to provide public education. Mayors, governors, superintendents, and educators will all find powerful new ideas about how to build a public education system that serves all children effectively and can respond as student populations and the demands of the economy change.

• IntroductionThe District as The SystemGovernment Services Through Multiple ProvidersChartering as The SystemManaging the Portfolio of SchoolsSection I: The Traditional Urban School DistrictChapter 1: The Failure of Urban DistrictsThe Role of Public Education in America’s CitiesContemporary ResultsLongstanding Under-performanceExplanation for the CrisisChapter 2: The Failure of ReformIncreases in FundingStandards and AccountabilityChoice and CompetitionSo What Went Wrong?Chapter 3: The Quality CurveDataChapter 4: The Failure of FixingWhy Do Failing Schools Survive?Yesterday’s and Today’s SchoolsThe Stickiness of FailureDefining Turnaround DownNCLB and Failing SchoolsOwning Up to Failed Improvement EffortsFlailing in the DarkStill in its Infancy?Keep DiggingMisunderstanding the Lessons of High-Performing, High-Poverty SchoolsBeyond EducationSection II: Urban Charter SchoolingChapter 5: The Charter RevolutionA New Type of SchoolThe Evolution of CharteringChartering and America’s CitiesThe Purposes and Potential of CharteringChapter 6: The Charter Quality CurveOff on the Wrong TrackVariations in Charter PerformanceCharter Performance DataCharter-District Distribution ComparisonsConclusionChapter 7: The Systemic Innovations of CharteringStarting NewDiversification: Removing Exclusive AuthorityAuthorizingOperatorsReplications and ExpansionsClosuresSection III: Urban Private SchoolingChapter 8: Private Schooling and the Public SystemThe Development of American Private EducationSeparating the SectorsReligion and Public SchoolsPrivate Schools and Public PolicyInternational Comparisons of Private EducationThe Disappearance of Inner-City Private SchoolsToward a SolutionChapter 9: The Private Quality Curve The Quality Distribution of Urban Private SchoolsPrivate Schools in MilwaukeeAdditional EvidenceConclusionSection IV: The Urban School System of the FutureChapter 10: Characteristics of the New SystemCloser Than We ThinkA Word about the DistrictPillars of the New SystemChancellor of the City School SystemAuthorizersSchool OperatorsPrivate SchoolsAdditional Issues to ConsiderConclusionChapter 11: Finishing the JobFrom District-centered to School-centeredThe Proliferation of ChoiceChurning the Schools PortfolioIntegrating the Three Sectors