School Choice and the Betrayal of Democracy : How Market-Based Education Reform Fails Our Communities / Robert Asen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Asen, Robert, 1968- author.

Series:

Rhetoric and democratic deliberation.

Rhetoric and Democratic Deliberation

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

School choice--Political aspects--United States.

School choice.

Education and state--United States.

Education and state.

Privatization in education--United States.

Privatization in education.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (248 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

University Park, PA : The Pennsylvania State University Press, [2021]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Evidence shows that the increasing privatization of K–12 education siphons resources away from public schools, resulting in poorer learning conditions, underpaid teachers, and greater inequality. But, as Robert Asen reveals here, the damage that market-based education reform inflicts on society runs much deeper. At their core, these efforts are antidemocratic.Arguing that democratic communities and public education need one another, Asen examines the theory driving privatization, popularized in the neoliberalism of Milton and Rose Friedman, as well as the case for school choice promoted by former secretary of education Betsy DeVos and the controversial voucher program of former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. What Asen finds is that a market-based approach holds not just a different view of distributing education but a different vision of society. When the values of the market—choice, competition, and self-interest—shape national education, that policy produces individuals, Asen contends, with no connections to community and no obligations to one another. The result is a society at odds with democracy.Probing and thought-provoking, School Choice and the Betrayal of Democracy features interviews with local, on-the-ground advocates for public education and offers a countering vision of democratic education—one oriented toward civic relationships, community, and equality. This book is essential reading for policymakers, advocates of public education, citizens, and researchers.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Competing Discourses and Contrasting Visions of Education

1 Democracy as a Way of Life: John Dewey’s Vision for Individuals and Their Relationships

2 Markets as a Way of Life: The Friedmans’ Vision for Individuals and Their Relationships

3 Competition and Innovation in the Education Industry: Betsy DeVos’s Campaign for School Choice

4 Growing Markets, Diminishing Democracy: The Statewide Expansion of Vouchers in Wisconsin

5 Connecting Schools and Communities: Local Advocacy for Public Education

Conclusion: Means, Ends, and Public Education

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 17. Dez 2021)

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780271091518

0271091517

OCLC:

1325144096