TY - BOOK ID - 77887028 TI - Reinventing public education : how contracting can transform America's schools AU - Hill, Paul T. AU - Pierce, Lawrence C. AU - Guthrie, James W. PY - 1997 SN - 9786612005053 0226336530 1282005057 9780226336534 0226336514 0226336522 9780226336510 0226336514 661200505X 9781282005051 PB - Chicago : University of Chicago Press, DB - UniCat KW - Performance contracts in education KW - Educational change KW - Educational accountability KW - Privatization in education KW - Educational performance contracts KW - School management and organization KW - Contrats pédagogiques KW - Enseignement KW - Réforme KW - public education, teaching, learning, teachers, students, pedagogy, schools, american, united states of america, usa, transformation, reformation, reformed, national standards, innovation, accessibility, achievement, equity, equality, instruction, contracts, private support, creativity, operations, performance, privatization, new approach, strategies, leadership, politics. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77887028 AB - A heated debate is raging over our nation's public schools and how they should be reformed, with proposals ranging from imposing national standards to replacing public education altogether with a voucher system for private schools. Combining decades of experience in education, the authors propose an innovative approach to solving the problems of our school system and find a middle ground between these extremes. Reinventing Public Education shows how contracting would radically change the way we operate our schools, while keeping them public and accessible to all, and making them better able to meet standards of achievement and equity. Using public funds, local school boards would select private providers to operate individual schools under formal contracts specifying the type and quality of instruction. In a hands-on, concrete fashion, the authors provide a thorough explanation of the pros and cons of school contracting and how it would work in practice. They show how contracting would free local school boards from operating schools so they can focus on improving educational policy; how it would allow parents to choose the best school for their children; and, finally, how it would ensure that schools are held accountable and academic standards are met. While retaining a strong public role in education, contracting enables schools to be more imaginative, adaptable, and suited to the needs of children and families. In presenting an alternative vision for America's schools, Reinventing Public Education is too important to be ignored. ER -