"Gerrymandering" is known best as a tool to manipulate boundaries for voting districts, but school districts have long used the same tool to manipulate school boundaries. The author used geospatial techniques--mapping various kinds of demographic data onto school boundaries--to examine public school attendance zones and their effect on…

In March, the author invited the three leading presidential contenders--Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama--to submit essays about their educational platforms. Obama submitted an essay while McCain did not. Due to seemingly lack of response from the candidates, the author concluded that no one is sure what to do at the national level,…

Thomas Jefferson was one of the main architects of that famous "new world" state which rejected the rule of kings and queens in favor of a government by the people. He argued vigorously that in order to make such a governmental structure work, a strong system of public education was a basic prerequisite. Given the various problems which…

Recounts Jimmy Carter's past experiences with education and speculates about his administration's attitudes toward education. (IRT)

A high-school English teacher deplores barking-media sound bites of politicians pretending to resolve complex educational problems with one-dimensional "solutions." Highlighting specific classroom learning situations, he ponders three paradoxes: justice is not necessarily fair; freedom comes with limits; and clarity comes through…

Discusses some of the prerequisites for the successful operation of the political process in effecting educational change: decentralization of authority, freedom of information, and fiscal power in the hands of the consumer. (Author)

The author believes a cold war ideology permeates our culture and poisons the minds of youth. The challenge to education is to awaken people to a historical and global perspective and raise public consciousness of the necessity for peace. (MD)

The authors present some guides for understanding the controversy over teacher competence and developing teacher competency programs and policies. (Editors)

The president of the National Education Association (NEA) responds to Chester Finn's article (EA 518 431, this issue) by pointing out patterns of inaccuracy and misrepresentation in Finn's criticisms of the NEA. (MD)

Conflict over community control and de facto segregation of schools represents only a struggle for power between blacks and whites. (Author)

Schools have become fair game as a campaign issue but are not top priority. How the 41st president performs will hinge on the political estate of Ronald Reagan, the high voltage Washington political scene, and the caliber of the team staffing the new administration's education team. So far, the Education Department has failed as a believable…

Issues discussed include Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's impending retirement, high unemployment, the Quebec separatist movement, the dual language question in Manitoba and Western Canada, labor strife in British Columbia, the effects of the national economic recession on children, and Canadian hopes for the future. (JBM)

A model presidential nominating convention gathered 4,000 students from three states in May 1984 and selected Gary Hart as the Democratic nominee. Preconvention training prepares students to run the convention themselves while learning the political process in action. (MD)

An attempt to detail the varied perceptions held by educators and those held by politicians. Provides the actual language they employ to justify their shared disdain. The composite quotations in the article help put the reader in "the other guy's shoes", and serve to modify behavior patterns, which help to narrow the chasm between these two key…