ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the historical antecedents of contemporary school choice policies, their ideological underpinnings, and evidence of their effects on students, school systems, and communities. It considers the unique challenges and opportunities the expansion and implementation of market-based school choice polices pose for school leaders seeking to support diverse, equitable, and excellent public schools and school systems. Charter schools are publicly funded schools that are managed by non- or even for-profit groups, usually independent of local districts and free from many state and district regulations in exchange for promises of greater accountability and student learning. School choice policies can produce a number of forms of competition. While some school choice policies can trace their origins to progressive equity policies, others have been shaped by discriminatory impulses to restrict access to public schools on the basis of race, language, poverty, immigration status, or academic performance and ability.
