The End of Public Schools The Corporate Reform Agenda to Privatize Education [Paperback]

The End of Public Schoolsanalyzes the effect of foundations, corporations, and non-governmental organizations on the rise of neoliberal principles in public education. By first contextualizing the privatization of education within the context of a larger educational crisis, and with particular emphasis on the Gates Foundation and influential state and national politicians, it describes how specific policies that limit public control are advanced across all levels. Informed by a thorough understanding of issues such as standardized testing, teacher tenure, and charter schools, David Hursh provides a political and pedagogical critique of the current school reform movement, as well details about the increasing resistance efforts on the part of parents, teachers, and the general public.

Series Editor Introduction. Michael W. Apple. Chapter 1: The Demise of the Public in Public Schools. Chapter 2: Understanding the Rise of Neoliberal Policies. Chapter 3: Governor Cuomo and the Neoliberal Attack on Public Schools, Teachers, and Unions. Chapter 4: The Gates Foundation, Pearson, Inc. and Arne Duncan. Chapter 5: Manufactured and Real Crises: Rethinking Education and Capitalism.

Everyone who believes that education fundamentally serves a public good should read David Hurshs sobering account of todays neoliberal reform movement. His documentation of the enormous growth of big-money's clout and the manipulation of data to privatize public education is sobering. His call for a new democratic social imaginary rooted in organized activism of educators, parents, and students is compelling and needed. --Christine E. Sleeter, Professor Emerita, College of Professional Studies, California State University, Monterey Bay, USA

This book is shocking and important. Few people have any real sense of what is happening to public education in the US  how much has changed and how much is changing. Hursh documents the extenlÍ