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In the wake of the tragedy and destruction that came with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, public schools in New Orleans became part of an almost unthinkable experiment—eliminating the traditional public education system and completely replacing it with charter schools and school choice.  Fifteen years later, the results have been remarkable, and the complex lessons learned should alter the way we think about American education.
New Orleans became the first US city ever to adopt a school system based on the principles of markets and economics. When the state took over all of the city’s public schools, it turned them over to non-profit charter school managers accountable under performance-based contracts. Students were no longer obligated to attend a specific school based upon their address, allowing families to act like consumers and choose schools in any neighborhood. The teacher union contract, tenure, and certification rules were eliminated, giving schools autonomy and control to hire and fire as they pleased.
In Charter School City, Douglas N. Harris provides an inside look at how and why these reform decisions were made and offers many surprising findings from one of the most extensive and rigorous evaluations of a district school reform ever conducted. Through close examination of the results, Harris finds that this unprecedented experiment was a noteworthy success on almost every measurable student outcome. But, as Harris shows, New Orleans was uniquely situated for these reforms to work well and that this market-based reform still required some specific and active roles for government. Letting free markets rule on their own without government involvement will not generate the kinds of changes their advocates suggest.
 
Combining the evidence from New Orleans with that from other cities, Harris draws out the broader lessons of this unprecedented reform effort. At a time when charter school debates are more based on ideology than data, this book is a powerful, evidence-based, and in-depth look at how we can rethink the roles for governments, markets, and nonprofit organizations in education to ensure that America’s schools fulfill their potential for all students.
 

With a renewed emphasis on facilitating learning, supporting multiple literacies, and advancing equity and inclusion, the thoroughly updated and revised second edition of this trusted text provides models and tools that will enable library staff who serve youth to create and maintain collections that provide equitable access to all youth. And as Hughes-Hassell demonstrates, the only way to do this is for collection managers to be learner-centered, confidently acting as information guides, change agents, and leaders. Based on the latest educational theory and research, this book

• presents the argument for why collection management decisions and practices should focus on equity, exploring systemic inequities, educational paradigm shifts, developments in the information environment, and other key factors;
• lays out the theoretical foundation for developing and managing a library collection that facilitates learning, supports the development of multiple literacies, and provides equitable access to an increasingly diverse group of young learners;
• touches upon current competencies and standards by AASL, YALSA, and ALSC;
• uses a learner-centered and equity perspective to cover core issues and criteria such as selection and removal of materials, budgeting, and cooperation among libraries;
• shows how a business viewpoint can assist the learner-centered collector in articulating the central significance of the collection to learning;
• discusses how library staff can work collaboratively to create policy and negotiate budgets; and
• includes customizable tools and templates, including a Stakeholder Contact/SWOT Analysis, Decision-Making Model for Selecting Resources and Access Points that Support Learning and Advance Equity, and Collection Development Analysis Worksheet.

This resource will be as useful to current school librarians and supervisors, youth librarians in public libraries, and educators as it will to LIS students.