Sol Stern is a contributing editor to City Journal and a Manhattan Institute senior fellow. He writes passionately on education reform, and his writings on that topic have helped shape the terms of the current debate in New York City.

Stern is the author of Breaking Free: Public School Lessons and the Imperative of School Choice. Aside from his work in City Journal, Stern’s articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Magazine, Commentary, The New Republic, the Daily News, Newsday, the Village Voice, New York, Sports Illustrated, and The New Statesmen.

Mr. Stern was an editor and staff writer for Ramparts magazine between 1966 and 1972. He then spent the next 12 years as a freelance writer and editor. From 1985 to 1994, Mr. Stern served as Director of Issues, Press Secretary, and Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the City Council President of New York. In 1994, he was appointed Executive Director of a New York State Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform, where he served for one year. After leaving state government, Mr. Stern returned to journalism.

Mr. Stern grew up in New York City and graduated from Stuyvesant High School and the City College of New York. He received an M.A. in political science from the State University of Iowa and did further graduate work at the University of California at Berkeley. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Ruth Stern, who teaches in a New York City public high school.

Select Media

• WNBC News, 6-23-08
• Bob Davis Show, KSTP, 5-7-08
• Milt Rosenberg Show, WGN, 5-5-08
• Hannity and Colmes, Fox News Channel, 4-24-2008
• Martha Zoller Show, WDUN, 1-30-08
• Mike Rosen Show, WKOA, 1-29-08

Articles/Op-eds

• NewTalk Forum: Debating No Child Left Behind, 8-5-08
• US English Tragedy New York Post, 07-14-08
• In School Reform, Billions of Dollars—But Not Much Bang New York Daily News, 11-18-07
• Pulling A 'Fast' One New York Post, 10-01-07
• Grading Mayoral Control Townhall.com, 07-27-07
• Radical Teach New York Post, 05-12-07
• Save The Catholic Schools New York Post, 05-01-07
• Math and Marxism New York Post, 03-20-07
• The Ghosts of Bill Ayers FrontPage Magazine, 10-17-06
• $5B Headache New York Post, 10-16-06
• The Ed Schools' Latest - and Worst - Humbug FrontPageMag.com, 7-24-06
• When Activism Masquerades as Education New York Daily News, 7-21-06
• PR but not the 3 Rs Los Angeles Times, 3-25-06
• Pinko Teachers, Inc. New York Post, 3-12-06
• The Great School Debate:'Civil-Rights' Charade New York Post, 2-14-06
• Missed Opportunity New York Sun, 10-13-05
• Schooling Ferrer New York Sun, 9-30-05
• They Never Learn Barron’s Online, 1-24-05
• Opportunities Lost New York Sun, 12-14-04
• Mike's lost his way on school reform Daily News, 11-30-04
• The Cash Excuse New York Post, 4-13-04
• Teach Before You Test, Mike New York Post, 3-28-04
• Klein's Phony Phonics Fix New York Post, 1-25-04
• Joel Klein’s Figleaf New York Post, 1-12-04
• Klein’s Micromanagement New York Sun, 10-21-03
• $40 Million Goof New York Post, 10-20-03
• One Enemy is Inside the Tent New York Post, 9-2-03
• Mandate smaller classes? No: Teacher quality would go down NY Daily News, 8-26-03
• Lam Excuses New York Post, 8-22-03
• Façade of Excellence Education Next, Summer 2003
• Correct the Reading Wrong Turn New York Sun, 4-15-03
• NYC Schools: Aiming For Illiteracy New York Post, 4-4-03
• Mike's ed plan sticks it to the UFT NY Daily News, 1-22-03
• S.O.S.—Save Our Schools Wall Street Journal, 12-10-02
• Bust That Trust: An Open Letter New York Post, 8-19-02
• The Ideal Teacher’s Deal NY Daily News, 4-30-02
• A Fight For the Kids New York Post, 3-12-02
• Levy's Study Doesn't Add Up NY Daily News, June 29, 2001
• Tax Credits Can Teach Big Lessons New York Daily News, April 11, 2001
• A Quick Fix for Shortage of Teachers New York Daily News, February 21, 2001
• Give Teachers What They Merit | When it comes to kids, time should equal money, Daily News, December 31, 2000
• What Do Our Schools Need? New York Post, May 30, 2000
• Memo to Levy: Money's No Cure-All New York Daily News, Sunday, April 16, 2000
• Solving the ‘Real’ Teacher Crisis The New York Daily News, Sunday, April 9, 2000
• What Rudy Crew Didn't Do The New York Times, Wednesday, December 29, 1999
• Rudy We Hardly Knew Ye The New York Daily News, December 5, 1999
• The Shrinking School Day The New York Daily News, Friday, October 15, 1999
• The Schools That Vouchers Built Investor's Business Daily, Viewpoint, Wednesday, March 3, 1999
• . . . And Why Unions Are Death On Charter Schools The New York Post, Sunday, December 6, 1998
• Steer Clear Of Stadium Madness Daily News, Monday, November 23, 1998
• A Charter School Renaissance Investor's Business Daily, September 3, 1998

Interviews

• A School Reformer's Journey: From Parent to Journalist to Policy Analyst: an interview with Sol Stern
  Written By: George A. Clowes, School Reform News, The Heartland Institute, May 1, 2004

Books

• Breaking Free: Public School Lessons and the Imperative of School Choice (Encounter Books, May 2003)

City Journal Articles

• Buyer’s Remorse on Mayoral Control, 2 September 2008
• A Marshall Plan for Reading, Summer 2008
• New York’s Lake Wobegon Effect, 26 June 2008
• Reading First Still Works, 19 May 2008
• May 1968: 40 Years Later, Spring 2008
• Obama’s Real Bill Ayers Problem, 23 April 2008
• Is School Choice Enough?, 24 January 2008
• School Choice Isn’t Enough, Winter 2008
• False Prophet, Autumn 2007
• The NAEP Doesn’t Lie, 15 November 2007