Review: These Schools Belong to You and Me: Why We Can't Afford to Abandon Our Public Schools

These Schools Belong to You and Me: Why We Can't Afford to Abandon Our Public Schools by Deborah Meier
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I received and Advance Reader Copy of this book from Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

This is such an important book and my greatest concern is that the very people who most need to read this book will perceive it as too overtly political to grasp its most salient points- that a free public education is essential to democracy and that public schools (and universities) model the real world, with people from all backgrounds, beliefs and political positions. Raising and educating our children in an echo chamber of questionable educational quality will achieve nothing for a democratic society.

Deborah Meier is a famous and highly respected educator with a long track record of innovation in the public school setting. Her words in this book, which I wish I could give to every member of every state legislature, are wise words borne of decades of work in the public school setting. She tells us of both the systems failings and potential and most of all, why a public education must remain relevant in a democracy.

My only caveat here is that the occasionally polarizing tone may, as mentioned above, limit the readership. Preaching to the choir is its own narrow echo chamber. Getting people past the introduction and first few chapters may be hard for those keen on vouchers and Christian education. Those might be sllim odds. That audience needs to have this thoughtful discussion of the drawbacks of the voucher system, particularly in quality of education, but also in terms of preparing citizens who can deal with the whole world around them that may not look like them, or believe like them. The rest of the world isn't going away, after all. I'm frankly not sure, however, how this topic can be discussed without getting political.


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