Big Box Schools

Race, Education, and the Danger of the Wal-Martization of Public Schools in America

Lori Latrice Martin

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781498510424
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The American public school system is at a crossroad. One pathway is decorated with signs and institutions that will lead public education towards a destination of collective obligation, accountability, and responsibility that is student-centered, community-based, and driven by educators and parents working in the best interest of students, families, communities, and the broader society. The other pathway is littered with pamphlets, flyers, and electronic billboards falsely advertising the merits of school "choice." The direction American public schools appear to have taken over the past few decades is increasingly dotted with charter schools operated by for-profit multinational corporations, and themed public schools. Increasingly, efforts to reform public education in America resemble the business model made popular by the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton. Big Box Schools: Race, Education, and the Danger of the Wal-Martization of Public Schools in America examines the dangers of the Wal-Martization of American public schools and highlights efforts to challenge policies and practices which place greater emphasis on profits than on pupils.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Series Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Public Schools and Pathways to Prosperity
• History of Race and Public Education in America
• Education as a Profit Machine
• Race, Public Education and The Wal-Mart Model
• Education and Today’s Black Working-Class: Low Quality, Low Prices, Low Wages
• Does Common Core Make Common Sense?
• Plutocracies and the Displacement of Indigenous Organizations and Educational Leaders
• Fighting Back: Changing Trajectory of Public Education in America
• Worth the Fight
• References
• Index
• About the Author