Expect Miracles
Charter Schools And The Politics Of Hope And Despair
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- $49.99
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- $49.99
Publisher Description
"Cookson and Berger provide a thoughtful summary and insightful critique of the charter school movement. Expect Miracles explodes the myth that the charter schools operating in an educational 'marketplace' will recast public education to better serve America's children and promote democratic civic values. Anyone interested in the future of U.S. school reform should read this book." —Alex Molnar, professor and director, Education Policy Studies Laboratory, Arizona State University, and author of Giving Kids the Business "By far the best book yet to appear on the charter school movement Written with scholarship, insight, clarity, compassion, and fire." —Bruce J. Biddle, professor emeritus of the University of Missouri, and co-author of The Manufactured Crisis "Beautifully written analysis of the charter school movement in terms of its past and present political and educational dynamics as well as where it might go." —Henry M. Levin, director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University Charter schools are the most significant educational experiment in the last two decades. In Expect Miracles, Peter W. Cookson, Jr. and Kristina Berger focus on the current trend toward deregulation in public education. The issue of deregulation is of critical importance because the spirit of entrepreneurship that is behind deregulation is seldom examined from a sociological perspective. Using the latest research as the basis for discussion, this book provides a fresh look at the growing and politically volatile charter school movement. The authors present the most balanced analysis to date of the movement that is changing the landscape of American education.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At last a book about the charter school movement that cuts through the myths and claims of the contestants in this volatile public policy issue to lay out the parameters of the debate in a clear and, for the most part, dispassionate way. Do students learn better and score higher in innovative, small schools? Are charter school parents more involved in their children's education than their public school counterparts? Most important, have charter schools lived up to their promise of becoming "examples of educational innovation that would encourage public school educators to raise their standards, become more imaginative, and generally revitalize public education?" Yes and no. Sociologists Cookson and Berger present the data in a balanced and comprehensive way and allow readers to draw their own conclusions. The authors carefully analyze the findings on charter schools and educational deregulation in terms of the promises of American democracy: that all children are entitled to equal educational opportunities, that public education must be free and universally available to all children, that educational advancement based on family wealth must cease and that the curricula of schools should reflect our core democratic values. This objective yet principled treatise finds the charter school movement deficient in virtually all of these and other categories. Cookson and Berger's hopeful book is essential reading for legislators, school board members, parents and teachers who want to make an informed decision about charter schools and the future of American education.
