Decentralization rests upon two major assumptions.
The second major assumption underlying decentralization is that the most persistent problems in education can be attributed to the structure of schooling. The deeply ingrained ways of organizing and delivering educational services, often bolstered by long-standing statutes and regulations, must change fundamentally if schooling is to improve. Reformers who see the structure of schools at the root of education's problems have proposed essential revisions in the ways in which school systems are governed and structured, the roles adults play in schools, the content of the educational programs, and the processes used to educate children. Yet, operating against the national trend toward decentralization is a tendency to recentralize. This special issue of Policy Briefs will examine these questions and describe the practice and progress of decentralization in 13 urban districts in the north central region of the United States.