Public-school teachers are widely regarded as a valuable influence on children's lives. But in the U.S., they are subject to a frustrating set of challenges: low pay, limited ability to organize, negative media attention and byzantine curriculum requirements often tied to standardized testing. In her first book, education journalist Dana Goldstein illuminates the present state of American education by reviewing its tumultuous history.
Goldstein traces the origins of teaching in the U.S. from the 19th-century trend of genteel female "missionary" teachers to the rise of "normal schools" that trained educators. She weaves together stories of teachers' unions, suffragettes and civil-rights workers to explain the complex relationship between educators and organized labor. Along the way, Goldstein highlights the historical roots of not-so-recent innovations such as merit pay, complicated teacher evaluations (often based on student performance) and nontraditional paths to becoming an educator such as Teach for America.
Goldstein poses a series of timely questions: How can the education system hope to combat poverty and racism without help? How can administrators effectively evaluate teachers without drowning in paperwork or dismissing problems in the classroom? Are charter schools a solution to the problems facing neighborhood schools? And how can the system empower teachers to use their knowledge and gifts to help students?
Well-researched, highly readable and full of dynamic, colorful characters, The Teacher Wars is both a useful primer on education in the U.S. and a starting point for lively debate on the issues facing education today. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams