The American Dream and the Public Schools

by Jennifer L. Hochschild and Nathan Scovronick

Book Overview

Why is education policy so contentious? Do conflicts over specific issues in schooling have anything in common? Are there general principles that can help us resolve these disputes? In this book the authors find the source of many debates over schooling in the multiple goals and internal
contradictions of the national ideology we call the American dream. They also propose a framework for helping Americans get past acrimonious debates in order to...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195152786
• ISBN13: 9780195152784
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.6" x 9.7"

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.