This post is a piece I originally published in a 2000 book honoring David Tyack, Reconstructing the Good in Education: Coping with Intractable American Dilemmas. which was edited by Larry Cuban and Dorothy Shipps. Here's a link to a PDF of the chapter. A few years ago I did a short post about Albert Hirschman's … Continue reading No Exit: Public Education as an Inescapably Public Good
This is my first ever Pollyanna post. I wrote it last year in order to cheer myself about the world we live in. I think it still stands up. We Live in the Best of Times We seem to be in a world … Continue reading We Live in the Best of Times — Really
Patriotism has picked up a bad reputation lately. It's associated with jingoism, right wing causes, and efforts to whitewash the bad parts of American history. Meanwhile wokeness has promoted the view that Americans have nothing to be proud of, since this is a country founded on the principles of racism and settler colonialism. But, as … Continue reading Rich Cohen: The Patriotic Wisdom of Bill Murray’s Silly Speech in ‘Stripes’
This post is a review essay of a book called Research Universities and the Public Good. It appeared in the American Journal of Sociology. Here's a link to a PDF of the original. Research Universities and the Public Good: Discovery for an Uncertain Future By Jason Owen-Smith. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2018. Pp. xii … Continue reading Research Universities and the Public Good
This is an op-ed I published in the Detroit News way back in 1998. It captures a key part of the argument about educational consumerism that I developed in my second book, How to Succeed in Schools Without Really Learning. And now it's a chapter in my new book, The Ironies of Schooling. EDUCATIONAL CONSUMERISM: BAD FOR SCHOOLS … Continue reading Educational Consumerism
This post is an essay by Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider, which was published recently in The Nation. Here's a link to the original. It draws from their new book, which I highly recommend: The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual. Their core argument is that the pressure for school choice -- "fund students … Continue reading Berkshire and Schneider — Why “Fund Students not Systems” Is a Recipe for Disaster
This post is an op-ed that Deborah Malizia and I just published in the San Jose Mercury News. Here's a link to the original. It follows up on an earlier op-ed we did on the subject. Schools’ shift from community to competition harms our youth U.S. education system created in the 19th century to serve the … Continue reading School’s Shift from Community to Competition Can Harm Our Youth
This post is a piece I published in Kappan in November, 2018. It's about the declining American commitment to schooling for the public good. Here’s a link to the original. PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR PRIVATE GAIN: THE DECLINING AMERICAN COMMITMENT TO SERVING THE PUBLIC GOOD When schooling comes to be viewed mainly as a source of … Continue reading Public Schools for Private Gain
This post is a piece I originally published in a 2000 book honoring David Tyack, Reconstructing the Good in Education: Coping with Intractable American Dilemmas. which was edited by Larry Cuban and Dorothy Shipps. Here's a link to a PDF of the chapter. Two years ago I did a short post about Albert Hirschman's book, … Continue reading No Exit: Public Education as an Inescapably Public Good
This post is a piece I published in Kappan in November, 2018. Here’s a link to the original. Public schools for private gain: The declining American commitment to serving the public good When schooling comes to be viewed mainly as a source of private benefit, both schools and society pay the consequences. By David F. Labaree … Continue reading Public Schools for Private Gain
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 