Levin To Launch Privatization Center at Columbia

By Bess Keller

Henry M. Levin, the noted Stanford University economist and education professor, is switching universities and coasts to launch a center devoted to the growing private involvement in public education.

He will hold an endowed professorship at Teachers College, Columbia University, as well as direct the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education there.

Mr. Levin, the originator of the "Accelerated Schools" project designed to increase the achievement of disadvantaged students, said last week that he hopes the new center will advance the debate about vouchers, charter schools, and...