Publ Schls & Soc Eq in Urb Env

Catalog description

This course explores the controversies that the current education reform has created in urban school districts such as the School District of Philadelphia. Particular attention is given to the debate over school funding and the role that charter schools play in this debate. To understand the complexity of this issue, the course will introduce students to some of the main changes experienced by the School District of Philadelphia in recent times and will address how charter schools came to be regarded as "the" solution for public education in this City. Because this course also aims at providing students with an introduction to the process of research and to familiarize them with the conventions of different ways of writing, students will be required to conduct library- based research and to present their conclusions in different academic formats.