Class Warfare: Inside The Fight To Fix America's Schools (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
Very disappointed in this. I could tell by Brill's tone that he was 100% on the side of "reformers" like Rhee, Kopp, etc. What really pushed me over the edge of, "it was an okay analysis of information to which I am diametrically opposed" to "Did. Not. Like." was the description of a group of "reformers" (they are not reforming anything except the wallets of businessmen) pushing for Arne Duncan as Education Secretary, with a back-up of... Wendy Kopp? Are you serious? As a teacher, I am fed up and disgusted with the constant "education reform" that is brought about by people with absolutely ZERO classroom experience. Wendy Kopp wrote up a bunch of bullshit in her Ivy League dorm room and we're all expected to bow at her feet because she gets fellow Ivy League graduates to "donate" their "precious time" to "save" poor kids? Barf. These students don't need saviors, they need real solutions. A bunch of 22-year-olds who are burnt out by 24, when they move on to law, business, or medical school is not the solution. Probably a 2.5...but ugh, this book. It started off good, with a nice history of how unions began in New York and also how they became very powerful. But once it got past the background, it was a lot of overviews of pretty recent education history. Changes are, if you're reading this book at all, you already know a lot of what's happened in the past five years. There was a lot of name dropping of prominent players, whether politicians, reformers, or union heads; and the vast middle seemed to be completely about everything behind the scenes of Race to the Top applications and YAWN. I would get excited when Brill would start highlighting some star teacher who could keep kids completely engaged, but it always seemed to veer back to politics before getting to how/why teachers are successful. The book wasn't overtly anti-union but also had little good to say about them. There was some redemption in the conclusion when the author and other reformers finally started to admit that star teachers everywhere couldn't be the answer, because the same star teachers were burning out and resigning before the age of 30. No, the answer is that reformers have to be able to work with unions to be able to bring systemic change. Well, duh? I wish I could say that this book enlightened my thinking in new ways but nearly every point has been made elsewhere.
What do You think about Class Warfare: Inside The Fight To Fix America's Schools (2000)?
Had some good information but very biased against educators. Stereotyping
—betz
Intriguing but not something that resolves the issue helpfully.
—natasha
Clearly skewered towards reform, but an interesting read.
—Inkstained
Important subject, but I found his style too tedious.
—touvlas
