Jeanne Allen

Many people know the old adage, often attributed to Churchill, that the two things one best not see being made are law and sausage. Indeed when it comes to education policy there is no better truism.

Twenty-one years ago when the states first began enacting charter school laws, the intention...

Super Tuesday is upon us, and voters are likely nearing the selection of a GOP candidate to oppose President Obama in November. As people go to the polls in ten states on Tuesday, what should they be looking at in choosing their candidates?

We hear that the...

One of several path-breaking movies to hit the mainstream theatres last year, Waiting for Superman educated thousands about the plight of U.S. schools. It conveyed the urgency of the problem, clarified the crisis, and sought to engage a nation. Most who saw it were shocked, and many made a silent...

Once upon a time, in this country, early in the last century hoards of Italians, (like me!), Irish, German, Jewish peoples and more descended on this land in search of something better. From the schools to the sweatshops, they took jobs that paid little and demanded much. Haste, greed and...

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts," said the late great Daniel Patrick Moynihan. And indeed, the PDK/Gallup poll underscores the wisdom offered by the former Senior Senator from New York, no doubt in the larger public policy context of his day.

While...

"Americans want more coverage of teacher performance and student achievement," says a Brookings Institution report. The public opinion poll which is its underpinning reveals that Americans have an appetite for more information on K-12 issues and in particular, on the issues real education reformers care about the most -- academic...

In a few days, voters will make a pilgrimage to their local school, firehouse or library, take up their civic duty and pull a lever (or hang a chad) for their candidates of choice, determining the directional future of the country for the next four years.

More importantly, though less...