Joseph O. Oluwole

A Principal's Dilemma: Full Inclusion or Student's Best Interests?.

This case highlights one principal’s struggle to reconcile his philosophy of full inclusion with the best interests of a student with serious emotional disturbance. It raises a number of issues that bring to light challenges posed by a system of full inclusion. It also provides an opportunity for educational leadership students and administrators to critically confront and appreciate the ethical and legal dilemmas presented in the provision of special education services to students with serious disabilities.

Teacher Satisfaction and Turnover in Charter Schools: Examining the Variations and Possibilities for Collective Bargaining in State Laws

Charter schools see as many as one in four teachers leave annually, and recent evidence attributes much of this turnover to provisions affected by collective bargaining processes and state laws such as salary, benefits, job security, and working hours. There have been many recent efforts to improve teacher voice in charter schools (Kahlenberg & Potter, 2014), including engaging in some form of collective bargaining, but we know little about the possibilities dictated by state laws. Therefore, this article describes the possibilities and variations for collective bargaining by state and for different charter types (e.g., conversion vs. newly created charters), as well as laws that have the potential to improve teacher satisfaction in charter schools. Ideally, state laws and the collective bargaining process should provide the appropriate balance between flexibility for charter school leaders, teacher voice, and protections for teachers.

The No Child Left behind Act of 2001 and Charter Schools

Supporters of charter schools tend to also be the supporters of 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) regarding choice in education. Many minority parents and their children are disappointed with school desegregation benefits and the pace of school finance reform is embracing choice schools such as charter schools. Charter schools are public schools with a specific mission free from the local school district, and are administered by a group of parents. Charter schools proponents argue that minorities will receive an education superior to traditional public schools. We argue that charter schools combined with accountability goals of NCLB by racial subgroups should enhance the academic achievement of minority students. We also assess the combination of the school choice paradigm with a focus on the interaction of charter schools and NCLB.