A Santa Barbara High School teacher-turned-state legislator, state Senate Education Committee Chair Gary K. Hart, was first introduced to the idea of charter schools by AFT President Al Shanker’s 1988 New York Times column. Hart, a Democrat, was attracted to the idea’s boldness. “I felt that not just simple innovations, but some bold experiments, particularly […]
National Timeline
1991: America’s First Charter Schools Law
The Minnesota Foundation’s fourteenth annual Itasca Seminar brought together tinkers, doers, and policymakers to explore how to improve public education. Among this October 1988 event’s national speakers were Al Shanker and New York’s Sy Fliegel, the architect of East Harlem’s choice-based innovations. More local attendees included the Citizens League’s Ted Kolderie and the vice chair […]
1988: The Launch of an Idea
A Nation at Risk created a new paradigm and a new sense of urgency for improving the quality of America’s schools. Many studies were issued in the years following Risk’s release. Chief among them were: The Nation Responds by the U.S. Department of Education (1984) cataloged state-based initiatives; Time for Results by the National Governors […]
1983: A Nation at Risk: The Report that Changed the Arc of Education
Special commissions on education are common, but none have had the same transformational impact as the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Convened by U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel Bell just seven months into President Ronald Reagan’s first term to “help define the problems afflicting American education and to provide solutions,” prevailing wisdom suggested that […]
