Opinion & Analysis

School closings are nothing new, but in a growing number of districts around the country, what was once seen as a local decision to close schools has now morphed into a politically charged campaign.

Lack of district leadership continues to impede progress on bringing high school guidance programs to 'comparability.'

The fact that girls are underrepresented in New York’s top high schools, which tend to be focused on math and science, and which have more than a dozen Nobel laureates among their alumni, worries some academics who see the schools as prime breeding grounds for future scientists and engineers.

It's no surprise that parents go to great lengths to get their children into the coveted classrooms. But other campuses suffer a loss from such lopsided enthusiasm.

The first year of school in America, known as kindergarten, usually begins between the ages of five and six. Among rich countries such a late start is something of an anomaly. Barack Obama believes it is an economic and social problem; his education secretary goes as far as to say that it is “morally indefensible”.

Many parents and teachers in the nation's cities are disappointed by a long list of school closings. But when enrollment is low and costs are high, administrators face tough decisions. Host Michel Martin speaks to the Chancellor of Washington D.C.'s public schools, Kaya Henderson, about how school systems weigh these difficult choices.

With Jennifer Carroll out, Gov. Rick Scott has the opportunity to pick a new lieutenant to help him lead.

Somewhere along the line “public school” became “education.” In this transformation the old “public school” readin’, ’ritin’ and ’rithmetic taught in the form of math facts, grammar, civics, Latin, sentence diagraming, geography, etc., were eliminated.

With student debt growing and a mismatch between unemployed Americans' skills and the required expertise for available jobs, vocational education could be gaining steam, and high schools are rethinking whether they should usher students toward something other than traditional colleges.

A raft of startups is using open-source materials in an attempt to transform learning - terrifying traditional publishers.