Opens with a superb survey ... The narrative can be plodding, with long detours into state-by-state and city-by-city political and court battles. And, curiously, it ends before the arrival of the Covid pandemic and the convulsions of school closings, book banning and school culture wars ... Still, the book is a timely history.
For someone who seems inclined to question the motives of those who favor school choice, Ms. Fitzpatrick doesn’t seem much interested in why others oppose it ... It is a shame, then, that with the exception of a few words in the introduction, Ms. Fitzpatrick’s analysis ends in 2019.
This book does not offer any solutions or suggest any governmental or educational policies that would solve the problems it identifies, but will still likely appeal to general readers.
More textbook-style history than analysis, the book leaves Fitzpatrick’s driving questions about the role of individual liberty, government measurement and accountability, and the importance of education itself largely unanswered, and the narrative sometimes feels like more of a synthesis of materials rather than something new and incisive. Nevertheless, it is sure to be a valuable resource for anyone who studies public education.
