This commentary article looks at the differences between the political contexts of the original small schools reform movement in New York City, attributed to Deborah Meier and the East Harlem "miracle," and the current small schools reforms. It argues that many of the problems raised in the recent report released by The New School's Center for New York City Affairs, The New Marketplace, are rooted in the conflicts between the current small schools movement and other, simultaneously occurring policies.

This article looks at the recent fall of financial markets, comparing it with lingering questions about market-based reforms in education. The author argues that there are valuable lessons to be learned for educational policy-makers from current financial crises.

In response to a recent article in the New York Daily News regarding the marketing expenditures of the Success Charter Network, this commentary discusses the growing push for public schools (particularly charters) to engage in marketing. The authors argue that this trend is a result of the new educational policy context of merged private- and public-sector worlds. Concerns are raised about the effects of embracing corporate models for educational reform.

In the wake of the presidential election, the author argues that we must shift our educational policy values toward more collective and democratic goals.

This commentary examines the ways in which marketing and branding in education, or "edvertising," come into conflict with the distribution of information and rational choice processes.