The American Dream and the Public Schools

by Hochschild, Jennifer L.; Scovronick, Nathan

• ISBN13: 9780195176032
• ISBN10: 0195176030
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-10-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The American Dream and the Public Schools examines issues that have excited and divided Americans for years, including desegregation, school funding, testing, vouchers, bilingual education, and ability grouping. While these are all separate problems, much of the contention over them comes downto the same thing--an apparent conflict between policies designed to promote each student's ability to succeed and those designed to insure the good of all students or the nation as a whole. The authors show how policies to promote individual success too often benefit only those already privilegedby race or class, and often conflict with policies that are intended to benefit everyone. They propose a framework that builds on our nation's rapidly changing population in order to help Americans get past acrimonious debates about schooling. Their goal is to make public education work better sothat all children can succeed.

Author Biography

Jennifer Hochschild is Professor of Government at Harvard University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Afro-American Studies and the author of Facing Up to the American Dream. Nathan Scovronick teaches education policy and directs the undergraduate program at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(8)
1. What Americans Want from Public Schools	9	(19)
2. School Desegregation	28	(24)
3. School Finance Reform	52	(25)
4. School Reform	77	(30)
5. Choice	107	(26)
6. Separation and Inclusion	133	(35)
7. Challenging the American Dream	168	(23)
8. Public Schools in the New America	191	(11)
Notes	202	(37)
References	239	(52)
Index	291