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What do an old-school game designer, the NCAA chief and Maggie Gyllenhaal have in common? They're all on TIME's list of the 12 education activists to watch in 2012. Those named to TIME's 11 for '11 made waves last year, and this next group will too - for good or ill

Special education has become the new wedge for advocates of school choice-private school vouchers, charter schools, and other options for public school students. Some school-choice proponents told me that students with disabilities inspire sympathy, and state lawmakers wouldn't stand in the way of their getting these additional opportunities. The big risk for parents who choose vouchers is that they'll lose their federal rights to be involved in their child's education as provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Lessons learned from efforts to improve public education.Recommendations for reform and moving forward. A debate between Wendy Kopp and Diane Ravitch.

More than 30 years after passage of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, schools are still working on including students with disabilities in all facets of public school. And in many places, they remain segregated for at least part of the day, says Wayne Sailor.

Republican lawmakers and corporations have a new target: kids in special ed.

Public education is a communal good, like public roads, law enforcement, and national defense.  Such communal goods are paid for by all of us, regardless of whether we use them, and must be controlled via democratic decision-making that reflects the will of the majority while ensuring equal rights for the minority. 

A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit filed by the mother of a 7-year-old autistic child who was repeatedly locked in a dark isolation room at his school for misbehavior.

Denning made one central assertion in that interview with which teachers would seriously disagree, and I'd like to follow up by exploring that disagreement. I'm addressing primarily teachers, but also Steve Denning and businesspeople of good will. I'd like it if we could actually talk them over.

In the new state regulations for evaluation of educators, approved on June 28, one of the three measures that will be used to evaluate teachers includes "state-wide growth measure(s) where applicable, including MCAS Student Growth Percentile and Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment (MEPA)."

Lowering the the costs of state pension programs for teachers and other public workers is highly desirable, but it's also messy, and the savings are not immediate, notes a new report, which highlights state and local attempts-many of them controversial-to change those retirement plans. Published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, the report also looks at charter schools' often-complicated efforts to create low-cost pension systems.