A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School

A trenchant analysis of how public education is being destroyed in overt and deceptive ways--and how to fight back

There's no more time for tinkering around the edges. --Betsy DeVos, 2018 Rethink School tour

Betsy DeVos may be the most prominent face of the push to dismantle public education, but she is in fact part of a large movement that's been steadily gaining power and notching progress for decades--amassing funds, honing their messaging, and crafting policies. While support for public education today is stronger than ever, the movement to save our schools remains fragmented, variable, and voluntary. Meanwhile, those set on destroying this beloved institution are unified, patient, and well-resourced.

In A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider, co-hosts of the popular education podcast Have You Heard, lay out the increasingly potent network of conservative elected officials, advocacy groups, funders, and think tanks that have aligned behind a radical vision to unmake public education. They describe the dogma underpinning the work of the dismantlers and how it fits into the current political context, giving readers an up-close look at the policies--school vouchers, the war on teachers' unions, tax credit scholarships, virtual schools, and more--driving the movement's agenda. Finally they look forward, surveying the world the dismantlers threaten to build.

As teachers from coast to coast mobilize with renewed vigor, this smart, essential book sounds an alarm, one that should incite a public reckoning on behalf of the millions of families served by the American educational system--and many more who stand to suffer from its unmaking.

Author: Jack Schneider, Jennifer Berkshire
Publisher: New Press
Published: 11/17/2020
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.40w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781620974940

About the Author

Jack Schneider is the author of three books and an award-winning education historian. He is a host of the education podcast Have You Heard and lives in Massachusetts.

Jennifer Berkshire is a freelance journalist and a host of the education podcast Have You Heard. She lives in Massachusetts.