Engaging in educational reform forces us to ask what kind of world and what kind of society we want to live in, and in particular what kinds of schools we want. Of course, everyone will not subscribe to the same visions of what ought to be. Achieving educational equity, however, will not be accomplished through fiscal equality. Local school communities that have suffered years of joblessness, poverty, diminished tax bases, and unequal funding need more funding than wealthy school communities. School finance inequities are currently being challenged in New York courts by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity.
Similar challenges are underway in New Jersey, Texas, Alabama, and Connecticut.
Second, if schools are to be accountable, they must have sufficient power over the factors that influence success, such as budgets, staffing, scheduling, and particularly curriculum and assessment. In New York, the State Education Department must provide local schools with the authority to construct their own curriculum and assessment plans. This will allow those who know students best to shape the educational experiences they receive. Third, there must be increased parental and community involvement in public schools. The Chicago school reform plan that mandated significant parental decision-making through local school councils has demonstrated that deep structural reform of schools is possible and that such reforms contribute to increased academic achievement of students.