21st Century Schools

Public education is the key to equal opportunity and upward mobility in America. We need greater choice, competition, and accountability within the public school system, not a diversion of funds to private schools unaccountable to taxpayers. See "Model Initiatives" and "Talking Points."

December 6, 2007	Comprehensive Statewide Plan for Education A comprehensive statewide plan for education reform can combine the effective elements of national and local efforts.
July 28, 2007	STEM Education We need a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) agenda to remain competitive in a global economy.
July 27, 2007	After School Programs Such initiatives improve student achievement, attendance, and behavior among participants.
July 27, 2007	P-20 Councils The incremental nature of learning means that performance at any given stage is dependent on the success of earlier stages.
July 27, 2007	Making College More Affordable Aid is often offered as a reward for honorable behavior or in exchange for military or civil service.
July 27, 2007	Bible Elective Course Schools can offer an objective course studying the Bible's academic and historical influences.
July 27, 2007	Universal Preschool We should use prekindergarten programs to ensure children get the education foundations they need to succeed. More
July 27, 2007	Employing Board Certified Teachers Wisely States can boost bonuses and target them to NBCTs who work in high-poverty and/or low-performing schools.
July 27, 2007	Letting Mayors Set Up Charter Schools As quality schools become increasingly important to the economic health of cities, this will empower mayors to help.
July 27, 2007	Efficiency in Public Education Spending A "cut and invest" strategy will ensure limited education resources are put to their most effective use.
July 27, 2007	High School Reform State and local elected officials must act now to bring the American high school into the 21st century.
July 27, 2007	Teacher Induction and Retention The level of teacher quality can be significantly raised by supporting new and experienced teachers.
July 27, 2007	Charter School Incubators These resource centers provide technical assistance, space for planning and help in finding financing.
July 27, 2007	Financing Buildings for Charter Schools To expand high-quality charter school options, state and local officials should offer innovative financing mechanisms.
July 27, 2007	Focusing School Boards on Performance To focus on performance, the roles and responsibilities of school boards should be redefined.
July 27, 2007	A New Leadership Agenda for Schools Regulations should be reformed to help recruit, support and compensate school principals and superintendents.
July 27, 2007	Reforming Teacher Certification The number of high-quality teachers can be increased by eliminating unnecessary barriers to entering the profession.
July 27, 2007	Innovating with Competitive Teacher Pay Well-designed pay structures, including pay for performance, will help ensure teacher competency.
January 22, 2007	Expanding Learning Time in Schools This idea provides schools more time to broaden and deepen teaching and learning for all students.
July 24, 2006	Reinventing Senior Year of High School "Senioritis" can be cured by giving high school seniors a jump start on college or career.
July 22, 2006	Teacher Home Loans This non-traditional financial incentive can go a long way toward getting the right teachers where they are needed.
July 7, 2006	Teacher Mentoring and Accountability During their first three years, new teachers should be paired with a highly skilled educator.
July 6, 2006	Citizen Schools Members of the community can be mobilized to share their skills and knowledge with children after school.
July 13, 2005	Employee Home Loans States and localities should provide non-traditional financial incentives to attract employees in highly competitive fields.
March 15, 2005	College Bound For urban high school students to succeed, schools must take responsibility for instilling motivation and building self-identity.
July 25, 2004	The Right Teacher Incentives Colorado should start tying bonuses directly to full-time service in high-poverty or low-performing schools.
June 18, 2004	Cradle to College It gives every child a start on saving for college while requiring at least one year of service before drawing down the money.
March 23, 2004	Help Wanted If large urban school districts overhaul their hiring policies, they can attract more effective teachers.
November 7, 2003	Hi-Impact Pre-K Disadvantaged kids need a lot of help, but getting them ready for the intellectual demands of school should come first.
October 10, 2003	How to Hold Schools Accountable Real accountability for public schools means having clearly defined expectations and an honest system for measuring them.
September 5, 2003	Improving Schools in Tough Times Virginia Governor Marc Warner is not letting a budget shortfall stop him from improving his state's schools. More
June 30, 2003	Diversifying After-School Portfolios For the sake of young people, after-school programs should not put all their funding eggs into one basket.
June 13, 2003	Lifting Students to Meet Higher Standards New Democrat Gov. Marc Warner is providing real help to students to make sure they do well in school.
April 1, 2003	Change the Rules We should devolve decisionmaking in schools for three major and very important reasons.
April 1, 2003	The Wrong Teacher Shortage The shortage is really about quality teachers in the neediest schools and for particular disciplines.
February 1, 2003	Differential Pay for Teachers This structure takes into account the difficulty of assignments, along with the supply and demand of teaching skills.
August 1, 2002	Reforming School Reform Schools should look at abandoning the obsolete mass production system with a new, more flexible worker-managed one.
March 16, 2001	Investing in After-School Private-public sector partnerships give kids access to meaningful "extended day school" programs.
March 9, 2001	Getting Results in Childhood Development We should measure how well kids are prepared for school and then invest in initiatives that deliver improved readiness.
December 15, 2000	Military Charter School This innovation is taking root in Oakland - with the support of Mayor Jerry Brown.
December 8, 2000	Schooling Parental Involvement Kentucky schools, communities and civic organizations are boosting parental involvement in education.
December 1, 2000	Genuine Public Education Reform School-site autonomy, high standards, real accountability and support, choice and competition have been done.
November 3, 2000	High-Tech High Schools High schools can provide a quality public education with intensive, college-level training and the latest technologies.
September 15, 2000	"School Shopping Network" The Internet can be a valuable tool for parents and students to make their public school choice.
August 11, 2000	Every Public School a Charter Public School Hugh Price, President of the National Urban League, calls for every urban public school to be a charter school.
June 30, 2000	Civic Education Making civic education - preparing young people for active citizenship - should be a major part of our educational process.
June 12, 2000	Virtual Charter Schools These schools offer distance learning to supplement classroom fare or extend it to students who cannot attend school in person.
May 8, 2000	Educational Investment and Accountability Gore reiterated his support for tough national standards and testing, including exit testing for high school seniors.
March 20, 2000	Homes for Inner City Teachers HUD will make homes available to teachers at a 50 percent discount with very low down payments.
March 6, 2000	More Teachers, Less Tenure Georgia is more rigorously testing students, reducing class-sizes reduction and eliminating teacher tenure for new hires.
February 28, 2000	Opening Doors Without Lowering Floors This partnership dramatically increases the number of low-income students going to college and staying there to graduate.
December 20, 1999	Pre-K Education Here are the Third Way's four principles for investment in pre-K learning.
September 27, 1999	New Bargain for Public Schools Lieberman's "Three R's" bill redefines Washington's role in education, offers states and poor school districts a new bargain.
September 1, 1999	Grow Your Own Teachers High student performance requires that we redesign how we recruit, develop and reward better teachers.
September 1, 1999	Internet: The Appropriate Technology One low-income school district combined new technology with systemwide reform to achieve a remarkable turnaround.
September 1, 1999	10 Key Reforms An overview of the New Democrats' agenda for public education reform.
July 12, 1999	Teachers Corps Scholarships in exchange for teaching can address the dual crisis of teacher quantity and quality.
May 31, 1999	Smaller Schools Students from smaller schools have better attendance rates, lower dropout rates and fewer disciplinary problems.
May 3, 1999	Counter-Punching on Vouchers Any schools that take public funds should meet standards for access and be publicly accountable for results.
April 29, 1999	Wake Up Call Advocating strong public accountability for educational results can dampen the demand for vouchers.
November 13, 1998	Personal Economics Reinventing a home economics curriculum to give students the tools they need to manage their finances in the New Economy.
September 1, 1998	Quality Teachers Sen. John Kerry makes the case that quality teachers are essential to a good education.
July 24, 1998	Character Education Schools formally try to instill strong values and good habits in students - a program pioneered in Maryland.
May 29, 1998	Charter Districts "Chartering" districts makes the performance, choice, and accountability of individual charter schools district-wide.
April 24, 1998	Summer School Expanding summer school opportunities is critical to allowing kids to catch up after a year when standards are not met.
April 17, 1998	School-Based Child Care Another way to give kids more time for learning; also makes child care more affordable and convenient for parents.
June 1, 1994	Charter Schools: Catalyst for Change Charter schools provide real choices and plant the seeds of innovation within the public education system.

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