May 28, 2012 – Neighborhood Schools: The fight for the future of American public education

In the US, the historic struggle for quality education continues to unfold as America’s public schools have become the center of an intense debate. Much of that has focused on deciding what to do with schools that are struggling.  Should they be privatized? Should there be greater accountability? More funding or more local involvement?

While federal, state and local authorities maintain a top down strategy of fixing education, some communities are pushing for a different approach.  Parents, teachers and students are demanding a say in how their schools are run. But their efforts in getting leaders to address the institutional problems behind so-called failing schools are meeting resistance.  FSRN’s Jaisal Noor examines these issues in two of the country’s biggest school districts: Chicago and New York.

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