Description
Book SynopsisControls and Choices: The Educational Marketplace and the Failure of School Desegregation provides a detailed examination of the nature of the educational marketplace, supported by historical evidence, to argue that school desegregation failed because it involved monopolistic efforts at redistributing opportunities.
Trade ReviewBeginning with the premise that education is a business monopoly supplying clientele for the marketplace, equity in education falls short. Comparing the populations in low socioeconomic schools with those that are advantaged and mostly white clarifies that inequity exists. The former is of less value to consumers. Further, equity in education is not necessary to provide the skills required. It does not mirror marketplace reality. Though redistribution of diverse populations through desegregation was a noble civil rights goal, it sped up segregation. Mandated attempts achieved nothing more than an initial appearance of equity, and mandated redistribution encouraged the advantaged to relocate. Deciding where they could get the best education for their children, such as private, parochial, or magnet schools, middle- and upper-class families moved. This mobility, ‘white flight,’ demographically reestablished the gap that desegregation was intended to address. One chapter provides several in-depth examples of desegregation failures. Another chapter outlines those claiming success, such as in-school desegregation; however, even those suffered from many of the same maladies. In short, after decades of desegregation in the US, desegregation has proved to be ineffective in providing educational equity. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students; faculty. * CHOICE *
Table of ContentsContents Introduction Background: The Evolution of Educational Redistribution Failure of Will or Self-Defeating Policy? Summary of the Book Chapter 1 — The Political Economy of Education and Equality of Educational Opportunity Why Seek Equality of Opportunity in Education? What Makes an Education Valuable? More than Money It’s the Clientele Chapter Summary Chapter 2 — Schooling as a Competitive Market The Educational Marketplace School Composition and Educational Environments What Does This Mean for Equality of Opportunity? The School Marketplace in Practice Chapter Summary Chapter 3— Command and Control Failures: Cases of Self-Defeating Policies Baton Rouge, Louisiana Chicago, Illinois Dallas, Texas Beaumont, Texas Pasadena, California New York City Indianapolis, Indiana Detroit, Michigan Boston, Massachusetts Louisville-Jefferson County Chapter Summary Chapter 4— Market Options and Illusions of Success Little Rock, Arkansas Charlotte, North Carolina Milwaukee, Wisconsin St. Louis, Missouri What Happened in These Districts? Chapter Summary Chapter 5—The Educational Marketplace and the Rise of the School Choice Movement Desegregation Frustration and the Rise of Charters Minority Students and Vouchers The Spread of School Choice Reforms The Special Case of New Orleans Summary of Rationale for Using Charters and Vouchers for Redistribution The Debate over Choice Desegregation, School Choice, and Educational Quality Chapter Summary Conclusion References
