Lessons from the heartland : a turbulent half-century of public education in an iconic American city / Barbara Miner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miner, Barbara.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public schools--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--History.

Public schools.

History.

Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

Physical Description:

xiv, 305 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New Press, The, 2013.

Summary:

"In a magisterial work of narrative nonfiction that weaves together the racially fraught history of public education in Milwaukee and the broader story of hypersegregation in the rust belt, Lessons from the Heartland tells of an iconic city's fall from grace-and of its chance for redemption in the twenty first century. In the early months of 2011, Wisconsin became central to the fight to save America's middle class and its public institutions, in particular public education. Across America, progressives embraced the slogan 'We Are Wisconsin.' All politics are local, but with unending repercussions the Milwaukee story is the Wisconsin story, which is the nation's story. This book tells that story. Lessons from the Heartland focuses on public education reforms--from vouchers and charter schools to desegregation and choice-to explore larger issues of race and class in our democracy. Miner (whose daughters went through the Milwaukee public school system and who is a former Milwaukee Journal reporter) brings a journalist's eye and a parent's heart to exploring the intricate ways that jobs, housing, and schools intersect, underscoring the intrinsic link between the future of public education and the dreams and hopes of democracy in a multicultural society. This book will change the way we think about the possibility and promise of public education"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I Segregation, Prosperity, and Protests: 1950s and 1960s

1 The Glory Days of 1957 3

2 The 1950s: Milwaukee's Black Community Comes of Age 16

3 1964: Freedom Schools Come to Milwaukee 29

4 Milwaukee Loves George Wallace 41

5 Milwaukee's Great Migration #1: Blacks Move from the South to the Inner Core 44

6 1965: Direct Action Targets "Intact Busing" 48

7 1967-68: Open Housing Moves to Center Stage 61

Part II Desegregation, Deindustrialization, and Backlash: 1970s and 1980s

8 Brown and Milliken: The U.S. Supreme Court Advances and Retreats 71

9 January 19, 1976: The Court Rules-Milwaukee's Schools are Segregated 76

10 September 7, 1976: The Buses Roll and Desegregation Begins 88

11 1981: Police Brutality Moves to Center Stage 101

12 Milwaukee's Great Migration #2: Whites Move to the Suburbs 108

13 The 1980s: The Rust Belt and Reaganomics 114

14 Desegregation: Forward and Backward in the 1980s 123

15 Latino Students: Moving Beyond Black and White 138

16 Money: The Root of all Solutions 146

Part III Resegregation, Abandonment, and a New Era of Protest: 1990s and 2000s

17 1990: Vouchers Pass, Abandonment Begins 155

18 Voucher Crossfire: Fighting for the Soul of Public Education 172

19 Multicultural Crossfire: Redefining the Public School Curriculum 178

20 1993-95: White Voters Reject New Schools for Black Children, and Things Fall Apart 188

21 1995: Vouchers for Religious Schools, Abandonment Advances 198

22 1999: (Re)Segregation Déjà Vu-Neighborhood Schools and Open Enrollment 217

23 Milwaukee's Great Migration #3: Global Immigrants Make Milwaukee their Home 233

24 2002-10: No Child Left Behind. Really? 237

25 2011: The Heartland Rises Up, and a New Era of Protest Begins 250.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781595588296

1595588299

OCLC:

778419522