Robert Maranto, University of Arkansas professor of education reform, has been named editor of the Journal of School Choice published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, the publisher announced.

Maranto holds the Twenty-First Century Chair in Leadership in the College of Education and Health Professions. He will begin as the journal’s editor in January.

The aim of the Journal of School Choice is to energize multidisciplinary scientific analysis and policy discussion with key insights into the nature of every major version of school choice. Maranto is currently serving as the journal’s book review editor.

“School choice is controversial,” Maranto said. “Too many economics journal just want to publish pieces showing school choice succeeds and too many education journals just want to publish pieces saying school choice fails, so the Journal of School Choice can occupy an important niche by providing an outlet for the best school choice research no matter who it pleases or offends.”

Maranto added that, as someone who has published widely, he understands that authors need timely, professional feedback, “so we will accept or reject article submissions within five weeks. We respect authors too much to make them wait around for months or years. Our review process will make us one of the top journals in the field.”

Maranto previously taught political science at Villanova University and served in government during the Clinton administration. With others, he has produced 11 scholarly books including President Obama and Education Reform, The Politically Correct University, and A Guide to Charter Schools. He is currently working on a book on Arizona charter schools and a second book on KIPP public charter schools.

His more than 70 scholarly publications have appeared in journals including Phi Delta Kappan, The School Administrator, Social Science Quarterly, Education Next and Public Administration Review, and his op-eds often appear in newspapers including the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Baltimore Sun and Philadelphia Inquirer. He currently serves on the boards of three scholarly journals and on the Arkansas Advisory Committee of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Maranto has done fieldwork at roughly 200 public schools, and he now serves on the unpaid board of a nonprofit cyber charter school, Achievement House.