The Education Wars: A Citizen's Guide and Defense Manual

A perfectly timed book for the educational resistance--those of us who believe in public schools

Culture wars have engulfed our schools. Extremist groups are seeking to ban books, limit what educators can teach, and threaten the very foundations of public education. What's behind these efforts? Why are our schools suddenly so vulnerable? And how can the millions of Americans who love their public schools fight back? In this concise, hard-hitting guide, journalist Jennifer C. Berkshire and education scholar Jack Schneider answer these questions and chart a way forward.

The Education Wars explains the sudden obsession with race and gender in schools, as well as the ascendancy of book-banning efforts. It offers a clear analysis of school vouchers and the impact they'll have on school finances. It deciphers the movement for "parents' rights," explaining the rights that students and taxpayers also have. And it reveals how the ostensible pursuit of "religious freedom" opens the door to discrimination against vulnerable children.
Berkshire and Schneider outline the core issues driving the education wars, offering essential information about issues, actors, and potential outcomes. In so doing, they lay out what is at stake for parents, teachers, and students and provide a road map for ensuring that public education survives this present assault.

A book that will enrage and enlighten the millions of citizens who believe in their public schools, here is a long-overdue handbook and guide to action.

Author: Jennifer C. Berkshire, Jack Schneider
Publisher: New Press
Published: 07/02/2024
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.70h x 5.60w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781620978542


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2024
Publishers Weekly 05/06/2024
Booklist 05/15/2024 pg. 2

About the Author

Jack Schneider is the author of six books, including A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door and The Education Wars (both co-authored with Jennifer C. Berkshire and published by The New Press). He is the Dwight W. Allen Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he directs the Center for Education Policy. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Jennifer C. Berkshire is a freelance journalist and a host of the education podcast Have You Heard. The co-author (with Jack Schneider) of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door and The Education Wars (both published by The New Press), she teaches in the Boston College Prison Education Program and lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts.