Educational Funding, Economics of Education, Private & Public Schools, Macroeconomics - General & Miscellaneous, Educational Reform, Privatization, Education Policies, Educational Finance, Privatization & Educational Vouchers

Public Education An Autopsy

Name: Public Education An Autopsy
Author: Myron Lieberman
ISBN: 9780674722347

by Myron Lieberman

Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Overview

In this blistering critique of our failing public schools and our fuzzy thinking about how to fix them, Myron Lieberman explains why public education is in irreversible and terminal decline and tells us what we must do to get American schooling back on track. No other book on educational policy or reform covers such a broad range of issues or draws upon such extensive empirical data across such diverse academic disciplines. This is a refreshingly clear analysis of our educational crisis and a rallying cry for market-system approaches to school reform. Nobody emerges unscathed—Lieberman's analysis challenges the advocates of choice as well as the defenders of the public schools.

About the Author, Myron Lieberman

Myron Lieberman, an educational consultant and writer, has served most recently as Visiting Scholar, Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Bowling Green State University.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Library Journal

According to Lieberman, the notion that our founding fathers viewed public education as a way to educate citizens is preposterous. Democracy is not sustained by public schools, he claims; on the contrary, public schools are hotbeds for racism. A fierce opponent of the National Education Association, Lieberman grinds his ax against the public education monopoly with provocation. The author's analysis of societal trends and the declining social capital (i.e., the social relationships that foster children's growth and development) is both brilliant and chilling. He advocates a competitive market system for education, where for-profit schools would be a major but not exclusive component of the industry (a plan he details in Privatization and Educational Choice , LJ 9/15/89). His view is strictly an economic perspective, and he leaves other considerations aside. This book is an important challenge to supporters of public education and adds fire to the education debate. For all academic education and social sciences collections.-- Arla Lindgren, St. John's Univ., New York

Booknews

Public education is irreversibly doomed, says Lieberman, because government neglects its role as protector of consumer interests in order to protect its role as producer. He argues that only the free market can save education, and proposes a three-sector industry encompassing public, non-profit, and for-profit schools. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)