TEN ESSENTIAL READS FOR #Edreform

From the CER bookshelf, in honor of #NationalReadABookDay, here are Ten Essential Reads that illuminate the history, progress & character of the authentic #edreform movement. Present and past, the stories told, cases made and the theories behind them are at the heart of how this nation can succeed.

No Struggle No Progress: A Warrior’s Life From Black Power to Education Reform, by Howard Fuller @HowardLFuller
A first hand account of how ed choice became the focus for this and scores of other civil rights leaders, and how success can be achieved,if you’re willing to put differences aside. History will judge Dr. Fuller with reverence.
The Knowledge Deficit: Closing the Shocking Education Gap for American Children, by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
@ed_hirschjr
This progressive educational authority and pioneering author of Cultural Literacy and What Your Kids Should know teaches us what’s at the root of our educational failures.
Getting to Bartlett Street: Our 25-Year Quest to Level the Playing Field in Education, by Joe and Carol Reich
@charterjoe
This story of this beautiful couple’s fight to create a new school for some of the poorest children in NYC underscores the fight that tens of thousands since have waged, and still endure. As you’ll see it’s worth the struggle.
Lessons of Hope: How to Fix our Schools, by Joel Klein
@JoelIKlein
Few other authorities in American life have the perspective of this unique and brilliant individual whose career moved from high level government litigator to NYC Chancellor. It’s a tale everyone should know, and lessons all should apply.
Getting Smart: How Digital Learning Is Changing the World,
by Tom Vander Ark
@tvanderark
While everyone seems to recognize the extraordinary role technology now plays in our lives, few seem to grasp its importance and application across all education sectors. Understanding that is the key to ensuring global excellence and equity for all.
A Light Shines In Harlem: New York’s First Charter School and the Movement It Led, by Mary C. Bounds
@lightinharlem
The people involved in starting some of the first and best innovative new schools for kids are often the least known. In this amazing story you learn how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr inspired the Big Apple’s educational revolution.
Charter Schools: Creating Hope and Opportunity for American Education, by Joe Nathan
@JoeNathan9249
The real story of how charter schools got started, and why they represent the best of what’s possible in education for teachers, students and families, as told by one of the few people present then and since.
The War Against Hope: How Teachers’ Unions Hurt Children, Hinder Teachers, and Endanger Public Education, by Rod Paige
@rodpaige
One of the nation’s unsung heroes and a quiet, driving force for education excellence from when he was Houston Superintendent to US Education Secretary, this quiet-spoken leader minces no words when it comes to telling the truth about how education has suffered under union control.
Our Children & Our Country: Improving America’s Schools & Affirming the Common Culture, by William J. Bennett
@WilliamJBennett
Historian, author, media person and the most well-known of Education Secretaries made the case that our schools must be places where we build commonality, character and unity. Once controversial, it’s Ironic that more than 30 years later, this is what people are demanding.
Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools, by Steven Brill
@StevenBrill
An in-depth look by a renowned investigative reporter whose analysis vindicated we “ordinary” people and caused the media to look more deeply at the unnecessary and tragic failures of education.

Founded in 1993, the Center for Education Reform aims to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans — particularly our youth — ensuring that conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom and flexibility throughout U.S. education.

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