Imagine a school with no bells or classes, no principal or school board. It's not an idea, it's a large-scale experiment in the upper Midwest.
A column by my friend Joe Nathan reminded me of the pioneering work of the Minnesota-based Edvisions network. Joe reviews a report by Charles Kerchner, a Claremont (California) University professor, "Can Teachers Run their Own Schools?"
The teacher run school idea was born in Henderson, Minnesota in 1994, with the creation of the Minnesota New Country School (MNCS). Doug and Dee Thomas, and a number of other public school veterans/visionaries created MNCS., with assistance from, Ted Kolderie, a creative Minnesota policy thinker. MNCS, and a larger cooperative called Edvisions remain in Henderson, providing assistance and inspiration to educators and families throughout the United States (as well as visitors from a number of other countries.) There are 12 "Edvisions" schools in Minnesota and 35 others around the