Who's In Charge Here?: The Tangled Web of School Governance and Policy

Summary (from the publisher): Behind the scenes, a revolution is taking place in primary and secondary education. Once thought sacrosanct, the principle of local lay control has come under growing attack. In the 1970s and 1980s, governors sought greater influence by promulgating academic standards and even taking over failing schools. Mayors soon followed, with some wresting control of struggling local school systems. Atop this, the president and Congress greatly extended their reach into U.S. classrooms with enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires annual reading and math tests in grades 3 through 8, tougher yardsticks to measure whether pupils are making sufficient progress, and penalties for schools that persistently fall short. The result is a spider's web of responsibility. It is difficult, if not impossible, to figure out where accountability lies. Not only have municipal, state, and federal authorities reasserted control over the separate education government that the nation long ago created, but an array of other institutions --including the courts, community-based organizations, and education management companies --are also deeply involved in school decisions. These trends have created a growing gap between those who make education policy and those responsible for the results. What's more, they have contributed to widespread confusion about how to fix public education.

In Who's in Charge Here? some of the finest minds in education cut through the confusion to analyze key issues such as the Constitution's role in allocating responsibility for education, the pros and cons of growing federal control, how to ensure a supply of talented teachers for the underprivileged, the impact of the school-choice movement, and the expanding non-academic role of schools. Other chapters explore the history of U.S. education governance and propose principles for creating a new system that especially benefits the children who are most in need. The question of who should be in charge of America's schools is likely to occupy the nation for years to come. Based on extensive scholarship and practical experience, Who's in Charge Here? is an important contribution to this critical debate.

Review: I was assigned this book as part of a class on public policy in education for my master's degree program. Rather than one long text, it is a collection of nine essays by various authors on a variety of topics related to school governance and policy.

The first couple chapters do a good job of providing an overview of how America got where it is today in terms of governance, which was helpful for a reader who is a relative novice on the subject. In general, the description outlined the traditional local governance structure that has slowly been replaced by increasingly nonlocal power over schools. Much of the book focuses on the changes made by the No Child Left Behind act instated by President George Bush. In this regard the book is somewhat dated, since it was published in 2004, and many of the future contemplations debated by the authors have already come to pass in the decade since this was written.  

Like any collection by various authors, some of the chapters were better than others. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on teacher supply and meeting the highly qualified teacher challenge by Linda Darling-Hammond and Gary Sykes and the chapter on America's school-as-family phenomenon by Noel Epstein (who is also the editor). I was frustrated, by the early chapters in particular, that frequently repeated information or assertions made in previous chapters. This is of course a consequence of varied authors writing in isolation. However, on the other hand, this also means that any of the chapters can be read as stand alone texts and do not depend on other essays for context or understanding.

In all, this is a great (albeit rather dry) text for those interested in learning more about the governmental influences that affect education from every level from local, state, to national. Although most of the authors have decided opinions, I think they also do a decent job of portraying both pros and cons to the educational movements and trends that they discuss.

Stars: 3