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nicolekukral's review
4.0
This is a very thoroughly researched book that helps contextualize where we are—and why we’re here—in public education today.
The book takes us on a journey from slavery and Reconstruction through Brown v. Board of Education through the charter school movement and finally to teacher advocacy.
As we travel on this journey through time, we are shown how these movements are connected, and we come to realize that our best hope lies in our local communities.
The book takes us on a journey from slavery and Reconstruction through Brown v. Board of Education through the charter school movement and finally to teacher advocacy.
As we travel on this journey through time, we are shown how these movements are connected, and we come to realize that our best hope lies in our local communities.
cyee44's review
4.0
Interesting perspective on the issues facing education. While it focuses on the impact on black communities, many of the situations also can be compared with education issues in other communities, especially in regard to misdirected funds and other problems.
I listened to the audio, and perhaps it was something the actual text did that rhe audio did not, but there were times when the author seemed to pull "facts" out ot thin air and I would have liked to know where she got them from. There were other times she cited the study or whatever in the text, but if there were footnotes, I have no way of knowing with the audio recording.
I listened to the audio, and perhaps it was something the actual text did that rhe audio did not, but there were times when the author seemed to pull "facts" out ot thin air and I would have liked to know where she got them from. There were other times she cited the study or whatever in the text, but if there were footnotes, I have no way of knowing with the audio recording.
akingston5's review
Read this for a class in the spring and have revisited a few sections over the summer. Rooks does such a fantastic job tracing the history of segregation in American schooling, particularly as it is upheld by charter and private schools, philanthropic endeavors by the wealthy, and neoliberal policies that in no way support all people. Rooks also offers some pathways forward, and I cannot recommend this enough.
sponsler's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Most people are aware that school funding and school quality is far from equal; this book gave me a much better understanding of this problem. It identifies and explains quite a number of aspects I had not been aware of. It also gives the historical background, explaining how we got to our current situation. I think many believe that things are getting better and will continue to get better, but some of the current trends are actually in the wrong direction. Hopeful rhetoric and throwing money at the problem just serves to keep it going.
gigiinzim's review against another edition
5.0
I THOUGHT I understood the American school system. This book is not the first to take a look at the intersection of class, race and education but it may well be the best. Noliwe Rooks is brilliant. Full stop. What she has created here takes her in depth research and her assessment of the current and history education system and she helps us, the reader, figure out where we stand.
This book is well researched and Noliwe Rooks proves her brilliance as a writer because the book is intriguing and engaging when it could be dry. The historical accounts here didn't feel like reading a history book, they felt like someone who cared was recounting an important and meaningful narrative. If even a portion of these stories are accurate (and it certainly seems they are) then we are in trouble. This indictment of the education system demands that we know the truth and that we do better. This book is wonderful in all ways and still painful to get through. I couldn't read it as quickly as I wanted to because I had to take breaks to process what I was (unlearning and) learning. This is a book you will want to absorb.
Rooks also gives us a well researched and deep assessment of the current academic trends and the dangerous path our schools are on.
If you care about education in any way whether a parent, educator, current or former student, administrator or as someone who will one day have a child in the education system YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. If you care about social justice you must read this book. If you care about racial inequality you must read this book.
This book is well researched and Noliwe Rooks proves her brilliance as a writer because the book is intriguing and engaging when it could be dry. The historical accounts here didn't feel like reading a history book, they felt like someone who cared was recounting an important and meaningful narrative. If even a portion of these stories are accurate (and it certainly seems they are) then we are in trouble. This indictment of the education system demands that we know the truth and that we do better. This book is wonderful in all ways and still painful to get through. I couldn't read it as quickly as I wanted to because I had to take breaks to process what I was (unlearning and) learning. This is a book you will want to absorb.
Rooks also gives us a well researched and deep assessment of the current academic trends and the dangerous path our schools are on.
If you care about education in any way whether a parent, educator, current or former student, administrator or as someone who will one day have a child in the education system YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. If you care about social justice you must read this book. If you care about racial inequality you must read this book.
alisun's review
5.0
I read Cutting School for a class I'm teaching called Schools and Poverty.
Wowza. This is one of the best books I have read on education policy. Rooks integrates economics, educational history and policy (i.e. "segrenomics") to document how the education system perpetuates inequality, advances profit for corporate reformers, and reduces Black wealth.
Wowza. This is one of the best books I have read on education policy. Rooks integrates economics, educational history and policy (i.e. "segrenomics") to document how the education system perpetuates inequality, advances profit for corporate reformers, and reduces Black wealth.
leaton01's review
5.0
This book, in many ways, does the critical work for K-12 education that Michelle Alexander does for the criminal justice system. Rooks traces the history of "school choice" to its origins in the rise of segregation and shows how the United States has a consistent history of taking public dollars away from educational spaces where marginalized folks could benefit to spend on public schools of white students or in the case of school-choice, into the pockets of private entities. Some of her best work is illustrating the depths to which African Americans were denied public education throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, to the point that despite often having little wealth, African American communities would be the economic base to fund the creation of schools. In that way, Rooks' work reminds the reader of the long history of investment and determination in spite of outright legal and economic exploitation that African Americans faced well after slavery. From there, Rook illustrations how school choice has in recent decades still resonated with structural racism, draining cities of resources with often little to show for it besides more distressed communities and wealthier private interests. If you have any stake in education, this is a necessary read to understand that we are continually moving towards a privatized education system that will increasingly perpetuate racial inequality.
ninafroms's review
5.0
Read for class - Very accessibly written history of purposeful segregation and racist economic practices in US schools.
File under: accessible academic texts, depressing
Learned about: charter schools, virtual schools, segregation, education funding
File under: accessible academic texts, depressing
Learned about: charter schools, virtual schools, segregation, education funding