Choices, charters and communication - Editor's Note

School Administrator, June, 2002

This month's issue anticipates the release of a much-awaited ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutional merits of using taxpayer funds to pay for student tuition at church-affiliated schools. Attempting to be timely in this way is a challenge for us given the lengthy lead time between editorial deadlines and printing dates.

Our coverage consists of a pair of guest columns, including one by AASA past president Benjamin Canada, that take decidedly differing views on the relationship between vouchers and black political and educational leadership. Our monthly profile spotlights Spencer Korte, who as Milwaukee's superintendent has been dealing with the nation's biggest voucher operation.

Unrelated to the voucher issue, we point you to an article by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood, an educational researcher in AASA's Issues Department, which conducts studies on system-wide policies and practices and publishes brief papers. Lockwood has contributed an article on her recently finished work on school districts where every school holds a charter.

This represents our first magazine piece by a member of the new Issues staff. When we return from our one-month summer publishing break, Cindy Prince will report in our August issue on her study relating to teacher assignments in districts with a large volume of underachieving students.

Finally, I'd like to direct you to AASA's recently relaunched listserv known as the SUPER-LIST. It's an excellent way for you to solicit information from and share your ideas with central-office colleagues nationwide, You can find signup details on the AASA website or by contacting Amy Schonfeld at aschonfeld@aasa.org.

Jay P. Goldman

Voice: 703-875-0745

E-mail: jgoldman@aasa.org