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The death of public school : how conservatives won the war over education in America / Cara Fitzpatrick.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Basic Books, [2023]Edition: First editionDescription: viii, 375 pages ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781541646773
  • 1541646770
Subject(s): Summary: "Conservatives have succeeded in establishing their vision of education in America, one in which government funds can be used to pay for both public and private schools. As a result, the very meaning of public education in the United States has shifted away from the idea of a universal good. To understand how we got here, The Death of Public School argues, we must look back at the turbulent history of school choice. The Death of Public School tells the rich and surprising story about the people, unusual political alliances, and philanthropic interests that have fueled the rise of the school choice movement over the last 70 years. Drawing on two decades of experience as an education reporter, Fitzpatrick traces the origins of school choice in the modern era from Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who helped lead a revival of conservatism in the 20th century, to the present day, in which conservatives are propelling the spread of choice options, such as charter schools, school vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships. Fitzpatrick paints rich portraits of people from various political and cultural backgrounds-from free-market conservatives to Catholic priests to white segregationists in the South to Black parents in urban school systems-who, in pursuit of their vision of education, linked arms with individuals across the aisle"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 379.73 F559 Available 33111011079676
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 379.73 F559 Checked out 07/15/2024 33111011318827
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist shows how conservatives have pushed for a revolution in public education--one that threatens the existence of the traditional public school



America has relied on public schools for 150 years, but the system is increasingly under attack. With declining enrollment and diminished trust in public education, policies that steer tax dollars into private schools have grown rapidly. To understand how we got here, The Death of Public School argues, we must look back at the turbulent history of school choice.    

  

Cara Fitzpatrick uncovers the long journey of school choice, a story full of fascinating people and strange political alliances. She shows how school choice evolved from a segregationist tool in the South in the 1950s, to a policy embraced by advocates for educational equity in the North, to a conservative strategy for securing government funds for private schools in the twenty-first century. As a result, education is poised to become a private commodity rather than a universal good.  



The Death of Public School presents the compelling history of the fiercest battle in the history of American education--one that already has changed the future of public schooling.

"Conservatives have succeeded in establishing their vision of education in America, one in which government funds can be used to pay for both public and private schools. As a result, the very meaning of public education in the United States has shifted away from the idea of a universal good. To understand how we got here, The Death of Public School argues, we must look back at the turbulent history of school choice. The Death of Public School tells the rich and surprising story about the people, unusual political alliances, and philanthropic interests that have fueled the rise of the school choice movement over the last 70 years. Drawing on two decades of experience as an education reporter, Fitzpatrick traces the origins of school choice in the modern era from Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who helped lead a revival of conservatism in the 20th century, to the present day, in which conservatives are propelling the spread of choice options, such as charter schools, school vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships. Fitzpatrick paints rich portraits of people from various political and cultural backgrounds-from free-market conservatives to Catholic priests to white segregationists in the South to Black parents in urban school systems-who, in pursuit of their vision of education, linked arms with individuals across the aisle"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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