ERIC_NO:
ED278149
TITLE:
Choice in Public Education. CPRE Joint Note Series.
AUTHOR:
Elmore, Richard F.
PUBLICATION_DATE:
1986
ABSTRACT:
The current debate on educational choice concerns whether locally centralized school systems of the kind that predominate in the public
school sector are responsive to and can accommodate the diversity of
educational consumers' preferences. Section I analyzes policy options
and illustrates how policymakers, by examining a range of solutions to
the problem of school organization, can alter the relationship between
clients and providers. Section II, focusing on the problem of accommodating
diversity in locally centralized systems, presents (1) the case for choices,
(2) the range of choices within the existing system, and (3) the collective
consequences of individual choices. Section III discusses the various
options available to policymakers and suggests some ways in which the
major elements of school organization can be brought together differently
to change the relationship between clients and providers. This section
also discusses how alterations in finance, attendance, staffing, and content
policies can change the form of a school organization and the relationship
between consumers and providers of education. Finally, section IV, addressing
the question of whether policymakers should experiment with choice, presents
both reasons for and cautions about such experimenting. Appended are 44
references. (WTH)
MAJOR_DESCRIPTORS:
Access to Education; Educational Policy; Organizational Change; Public Schools; School Choice; School Organization;
MINOR DESCRIPTORS:
Administrative Policy; Attendance; Course Content; Course Selection (Students); Curriculum Development; Decision Making; Educational Change; Educational Finance; Elementary Secondary Education; Family School Relationship; Organizational Effectiveness; School Effectiveness; Teacher Selection; Transfer Policy;
PUBLICATION_TYPE:
142