Losing America's Schools

Losing America’s Schools: The Fight to Reclaim Public Education is a call to save one of the last great democratic institutions in America. Corporatization, charter schools, misleading claims of skill gaps, the loss of Separation of Church and State, deprofessionalization, and the over–use of technology all threaten the existence of the schools that belong to all Americans. This book addresses the problems surrounding those issues, and is a tribute to the groups and individuals who are fighting draconian reforms in order to save our public schools.

Nancy E. Bailey, Ph.D. taught students with a wide range of beautiful differences in special education for many years. She can be found advocating for democratic public schools on her blog Nancy Bailey's Education Website at www.nancyebailey.com. She is the author of the 2013 Misguided Education reform: Debating the Impact on Students.

Dedication Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 Corporate Takeover School Privatization New American Schools Edison Schools The Sandia Report The Business Roundtable Venture Philanthropy Walton Family Foundation Broad Foundation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation High-Stakes Testing Common Core State Standards Teachers Unions American Legislative Exchange Council Conclusion: America's Schools Chapter 2 Replacing Public Schools with Charter Schools Lost Opportunity Non-Profit/For-Profit Charters v. Public Schools Segregation Special Education KIPP Conclusion: The End of Charter Schools Chapter 3 Students, Jobs and the Global Economy Scapegoats Standards College for All Privatized High School Programs STEM Vocational-Career and Technical Education Dropouts The Military Conclusion: Careers Chapter 4 Religion's Threat to Public Schools Horace Mann Churches Charter Schools Vouchers Character Education Conclusion: Separation of Church and State Chapter 5 Vanishing Professions-Teachers and School Leaders Deprofessionalization Teach for America The New Teacher Project Colleges of Education Teacher Certification National Council on Teacher Quality New Leaders Superintendents and School Leaders Michelle Rhee Secretary of Education Conclusion: Educators Chapter 6 Virtual v. Brick and Mortar Public Schools Disruption Online Schools Privatizing Online Schools K12 Inc. School of the Future Rocketship Student Privacy Competency-Based Education Conclusion: Real Schools and Teachers Conclusion References About the author