Gadfly praises Joe Williams’ populist book, Cheating Our Kids.
Joe Williams’s new book is written with all the vividness, verve, and emotion of a Jonathan Kozol tome, but with a message that will make serious school reformers cheer. Hard-hitting, packed with inflammatory anecdotes and devastating details, Cheating our Kids puts a human face on today’s education policy battles.
Eduwonk wonders if any author has been compared to Jonathan Kozol and Checker Finn at the same time.
Joe and I met at our publisher’s office. We’re planning a joint book party in New York in January. At least, he’s supposed to be doing the planning; I plan to exploit his contacts.
See also on Gadfly, a guest column on culture shock by a businessman turned teacher.
Becoming a public high school teacher after nearly 30 years in business required that I adapt to a culture whose priorities, norms, and incentives are upside down. Public schools operate in ways that conflict with their core purpose — teaching children the basic knowledge and skills required to lead successful adult lives. These dysfunctional practices are a source of deep frustration for teachers because they understand that it’s the students who are shortchanged.
Read the whole thing.
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