District of Columbia School Superintendent Franklin L. Smith faces overwhelming challenges, including student shootings, dilapidated facilities, undersupplied classrooms, and low student achievement. Franklin's biggest problem is a city budget crisis stemming from overspending, poor management, and bureaucratic incompetencies. Smith has pared his…

The Wilkinsburg (Pennsylvania) School Board's decision to hire Alternative Public Schools, a private company, to manage a failing elementary school has alienated the teacher union and many town residents. If teachers lose their court challenge, Turner School will become the only U.S. public school to be both privately staffed and managed. (MLH)

Today's truant officer is more often a counselor or a social worker than a "hooky cop" assigned to enforce compulsory attendance laws. Attempting to resolve the problems keeping kids out of school, many truant officers walk unsavory neighborhoods and find themselves immersed in heartbreaking stories or abusive situations. (MLH)

Following Orange County, California's well-publicized bankruptcy, Willard Intermediate School staff worry about program cuts and a possible state takeover. Voters oppose a sales tax increase to rescue programs. Located in an urban ghetto with a predominantly Hispanic population, the school was overcrowded before the bankruptcy. Future cutbacks…

In May 1988, New Jersey Commissioner of Education Saul Cooperman allowed the state department of education to take over the Jersey City (New Jersey) public schools. Because of nepotism, cronyism, and overzealous fault finding, this state-school district confrontation ended ignominiously for both parties. States contemplating takeover legislation…

Whereas a controversial new book claims that racial background is a strongly associated with intelligence and achievement in life, the Surrey County (Virginia) Schools are proving that success depends more on expectations. Under Superintendent C.P. Penn's direction, the largely black, rural county has become a state leader in the percentage of…

In two years, Cuban-born Superintendent Peter Negroni has worked tirelessly to make the Springfield (Massachusetts) Public Schools a showcase for innovation and school reform. In whirlwind fashion, he has built bridges to the city's business, religious, and social service communities, introduced school-based management to all 40 district schools,…

After visiting 30 inner-city schools in New York City, Chicago, San Antonio, Ohio, and New Jersey, the acclaimed author of "Death at an Early Age" concludes that public schools remain more separate and unequal than they were 27 years ago. Instead of embracing vouchers for school choice, we should support and fund genuine equality for all…