The American Dream and the Public Schools

By Jennifer L. Hochschild and Nathan Scovronick

Book Overview

The American Dream and the Public Schools examines issues that have excited and divided Americans for years, including desegregation, school funding, testing, vouchers, bilingual education, and ability grouping. While these are all separate problems, much of the contention over them comes down to the same thing--an apparent conflict between policies designed to promote each student's ability to succeed and those designed to insure the good of all students or the nation as a whole. The authors show how policies to promote individual success too often benefit only those already privileged by race or class, and often conflict with policies that are intended to benefit everyone. They propose a framework that builds on our nation's rapidly changing population in order to help Americans get past acrimonious debates about schooling. Their goal is to make public education work better so that all children can succeed.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195176030
• ISBN13: 9780195176032
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 301 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Must read for anyone involved in education public policy

It is very refreshing to find a work that illuminates many of the major issues and debates in education public policy in a clear and cogent way. Hochschild and Scovronick should be commended for fairly presenting multiple viewpoints, the history of the issue where appropriate, and relevant and reputable research that sheds light on the matters. I especially like the section on school financing which shows the weakness of the silly assertion that additional money would not help improve the quality of public schools, but also explains why major school finance reform is so difficult.