ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapters we have looked at a diverse group of charter schools, paying close attention to the dynamics involved in creating a setting. This chapter is broader in scope, focusing on the influence of the burgeoning charter school movement, both in strengthening parent voice and in bringing the administrative structure of U.S. public schools more in line with the system of checks and balances that characterizes our political system as a whole. First we review the historical and organizational factors that have shaped public education. After this, we examine the special challenges faced by the most vulnerable segments of the school-age population. Next we explore external political developments that have had an impact on the charter school movement. Finally, we will investigate how drawing on the resources of civil society could help the public schools to effectively address questions of academic quality as well as tensions created by the power imbalance that has grown up between a bureaucratized public school system and the families it serves.
