"You Can't Fire the Bad Ones!"

December 15, 2017
A methodical dismantling of the coordinated tenets of the free market assault on public education. Education professors William Ayers (Univ. of Illinois, Chicago; To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher, 2010, etc.), Laura (Chicago State Univ.; Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline, 2014), and Rick Ayers (Univ. of San Francisco; An Empty Seat in Class: Teaching and Learning after the Death of a Student, 2014, etc.) bring formidable progressive rhetoric to the reform debate. They argue against the conservative refrain that "unruly students, lazy and incompetent teachers, and apathetic administrators together destroy an adequate academic environment." They view this outlook as specious and so multilayered that it demands a fully structured response. Consequently, they debunk 19 "myths" contributing to this free-wheeling scorn toward public education. The authors touch on many aspects of this discussion, including controversies around charter schools, privatization initiatives, and inequitable allocation of resources. In each chapter, the authors point out the slick bombast of figures like Michelle Rhee and Donald Trump--e.g., the assertion of "the disastrous consequences of allowing the teachers' unions and their special interest bosses to hold sway over future generations." They rebut these conceits with a "Reality Check," evidence-based narratives contradicting each purported reactionary viewpoint. It's an effective approach, as when they argue that high-pressure standardized testing does not give education a high-priced corporatized sheen but confers advantages to the privileged and amplifies stress for all students. Furthermore, the myth that "Good Teaching is Entirely Color-Blind" is alluring because it "fails to take aim at the institutional and societal structures of privilege and oppression based on race." The authors also attack the pernicious idea that "Teachers Have It Easy" by explaining how experienced, compassionate instructors "are being driven out of the profession in record numbers." The authors render their arguments with strong rhetoric, but in emphasizing multicultural awareness and unorthodox teaching methods as solutions, they may not sway the mainstream conservatives whose views they ably counter. A valuable compendium of responses to the shallow, classist hostility to public education.

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February 1, 2018

Public schools are myth magnets. Sometimes these myths denigrate the vocation ("anyone can be a teacher"), while others question the focus of curriculum ("teachers need to focus less on the arts, more on STEM"). Myths can have a long history behind them or reflect more current debates around school choice and charters. In this new book, a trio of education researchers--William Ayers (Teaching Toward Freedom), Crystal Laura (education, Chicago State Univ.; Being Bad), and Rick Ayers (education, Univ. of San Francisco; An Empty Seat in Class)--attempts to set the record straight by unmasking 19 of the most common untruths. Each chapter begins with a two-page section summarizing the myth. A much longer critique follows, in which the authors illustrate their points with concrete examples or case studies of particularly effective schools. At least three chapters focus on issues surrounding teachers' unions. In this way, the book would make a solid companion to Jane F. McAlevey's No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age, which closely examines the 2012 Chicago teachers' strike. VERDICT The authors do their best to present a balanced work, as when they confront some of the uglier aspects of the history of teachers' unions. Recommended for academic libraries serving teachers-in-training.--Seth Kershner, Northwestern Connecticut Community Coll. Lib., Winsted

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2017
Public education is a bedrock institution in the U.S., one that nonetheless is coming under increasing attack from political forces seeking sweeping reform. In the rhetoric that peppers campaign trails and emanates from Congress and the president, the common culprits deemed responsible for perceived inadequacies are incompetent teachers and overreaching teacher unions. In reality, these controversial pronouncements are based on scant evidence. Through a series of disarming essays, William Ayers, Laura Crystal, and Rick Ayers, each a distinguished educator, endeavor to reset the dialogue swirling around education reform. The subject, they posit, is rife with myths pertaining to everything from reliance on standardized tests to teacher tenure to charter schools, the focus of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Each essay takes a devil's-advocate stance, laying out familiar talking points and perceptions, which are then refuted in an articulate reality check rebuttal. The format works well and provides powerful ammunition for concerned parents, educators, and legislators working to bring about true and beneficial school improvements.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)