by Joel Spring
Conflicts of Interest: The Politics of American Education, Third Edition describes and analyzes how policy is made for American schools and its effect on all our lives and thinking. Joel Spring argues that the politics on education is driven by a complex interrelationship between politicians, private foundations and think tanks, teachers' unions, special-interest groups, educational politicians, school administrators, boards of education, courts, and the knowledge industry. From F.X. Russo - Choice: This is a well-written, scholarly study with ample references and an index. Librarians will find it an excellent addition to their collections concerned with the debate over the future political structure of American education. Highly recommended for general readers and for undergraduate and graduate students. From Chris Eisele - Phi Delta Kappan: The first seven chapters of Spring's book offer a thoughtful and thorough analysis of the politics of education as it is currently practiced. The hard questions are contained in the final chapter, and they demand answers from readers. How do we solve a situation in which 'the major problems in the political control of American schools are conflicts between free access to knowledge and majoritarian control, and the attempt by special-interest groups to make public schools serve their needs?' How do we create schools that can be 'arenas for the free exchange of political ideas . . . (rather than) institutions for the imposition of values and ideas that are inoffensive to most people?' Spring does an excellent job of describing the circumstances from which these and other questions have emerged. Readers are left pretty much on their own to find answers. From Don T. Martin - Educational Studies (American Educational Studies): Spring has written a well organized, clear, carefully reasoned and highly readable book. It is a major contribution to this field of study and gives us a deeper understanding of the myriad of complex conflicting interests that exert pressures on the schools and influences policy making in public education. His sharp criticism of special interest groups and sophisticated analysis of key issues adds significantly to our general knowledge about the politics of education.
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