Urban school systems have a difficult mandate: to educate large numbers of disadvantaged children under the heavy hand of often dysfunctional managerial, accountability, and regulatory systems. Over the past decade they have also been challenged--in some cases threatened--by competition from school vouchers and charter schools.

Revolution at the Margins examines how urban school systems are responding to education competition. Drawing on case studies conducted in three school districts at the center of the school choice debate, the book seeks to clarify how competition is likely to play out in urban education; shed light on the ways in which system structure and practice hamper efforts to improve urban schooling; and better understand what promise market-driven reform holds for the future of children's education. Given the likelihood that conventional public systems will educate most students for the foreseeable future, the impact of choice-induced competition is likely to be an issue of concern for years to come. Revolution at the Margins explores whether the "cleansing" force of competition can lead to a more focused and effective model of governance.

Frederick M. Hess is a resident scholar at AEI.