Public schools in the United States continue their struggle with the divergent goals of improving performance and reducing spending. For almost a decade, they have been challenged to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In many local districts, those goals have been pursued...

Many urban areas of the United States have experienced urban sprawl in the past 60 years. Severe out-migration of relatively wealthier families to ex-urban counties has left relatively poorer families behind. When combined with the recent national conversation about school improvement, this...