MixedThe Hechinger ReportIn How Schools Work, Duncan traffics in fictions, but with just enough truth to carry along the unsuspecting reader ... The chapter of his book devoted to gun violence and gun control is particularly compelling. But the personal travelogue he recounts, tracing his origins in Chicago through his tenure as the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and then U.S. Secretary of Education, and into the present day, doesn’t add up to much. Regrets? He’s had a few, but not too many. And even these lack much self-reflection ... Duncan’s story concludes with a chapter that promises much more than it can deliver. Echoing the book’s title, the final chapter, How Schools Work, doesn’t even pretend to tell us that. Rather, it is a call to action, seeking to generate a sense of urgency about American school reform. There’s little connection between the chapter and what precedes it, and the message is muddled.
