Reviews findings from a state report which assessed Milwaukee (Wisconsin) area public schools. Focuses on data pertaining to the relationship between students' academic achievement and socioeconomic status. Argues for the reorganization of suburban and urban school districts to end disparities between affluent and less affluent schools. (KH)

Examines the implementation of the comprehensive school reform package enacted by the Illinois legislature in 1985. Reform initiatives have produced little controversy in the educational community. District superintendents use the reform law to effect their own, local reform agendas. Superintendents respond to reform pressures by adopting…

Schools of choice, which enable families to select among deliberately diversified schools and programs, benefit teachers. They facilitate empowerment, professionalization of practice, collaborative activity, and collegiality. The choice debate in Minnesota is reviewed, and issues confronting stakeholders are discussed. Educators should be…

The call for reform has overlooked school boards, which are crucial to effective reform. Focused attention on the role of boards of education in school reform is vital. If boards of education continue to be ignored, their potential for impeding school improvement is likely to increase. (BJV)

In August 1987, a group of Black community leaders and activists announced a plan to create the North Division School District, a small independent unit within the Milwaukee Public Schools. The plan has received opposition from various sectors but should be implemented on at least a trial basis. (BJV)