Education Politics in America

 
Here is one good starting point. 
http://www.politicalscience.uncc.edu/godwink/PPOL8687/WK3%20Jan%2025%20Education%20Reforms/Chubb%20and%20Moe%20Politics%20Markets%20and%20the%20Organization%20of%20Schoo.pdf   
Academic paper (that has been cited frequently per Google Scholar) has an overview of traditional public and private schools.
 
This article from a top source for research articles about education,
the ERIC library, looks at one model of edu reform. 
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED514148.pdf
Performance funding is a method of funding public
institutions based not on inputs such as enrollments but on
outcomes such as retention, degree completion, and job
placement.
 
http://edureformer.com/ has good articles like this one and links to expert’s blogs, etc. 
http://edreformer.com/2011/01/10-ways-to-hack-education/  Education 2.0 changes and examples.
 
I decided against linking to a column by conservative pundit Michelle Malkin because it seemed pretty critical.  It mentioned a local edu think tank, http://www.mackinac.org/. 

But George Will is another (calmer) conservative who also wrote a column today about our edu system. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/26/AR2011012605580.html.