First published 2020
Cultural critic Noliwe Rooks examines how the privatization of American education has created a profitable industry built on segregation. She traces the financial mechanisms behind separate and unequal schooling from Reconstruction through Brown v. Board of Education to today's school choice debates. Rooks introduces the concept of "segrenomics" to show how charter schools, vouchers, and cyber schools actually increase racial and economic segregation while claiming to offer equal opportunities. The author documents how public dollars flow to private operations as school infrastructure deteriorates and major cities prepare to dismantle their public systems entirely. Despite this bleak landscape, Rooks highlights the individuals and movements working to preserve urban education. The book connects historical patterns of educational inequality to contemporary policy debates around teacher quality and the school-to-prison pipeline, offering readers a framework for understanding the true stakes of education reform.
Genres: political-science, social-issues, education, non-fiction, activism, american-history
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: social-justice
Setting: America, Brown v. Board of Education
Period: Reconstruction, Today
279 pages · Kindle Edition · The New Press