Public Education’s Last Hurrah?: Schizophrenia, Amnesia, and Ignorance in School Politics

Abstract

Success in the current reform movement is critical because support for American public schools is endangered by fundamental demographic and value shifts. However, reformers have been handicapped by an inadequate understanding of the politics and organizational character of schools. Consequently, their reform strategies often are incongruent with the realities of changing schools. This paper examines these propositions and outlines an approach for achieving more realistic and promising strategies for reinvigorating public schools.