Books by Jack Schneider

A trenchant analysis of how public education is being destroyed in overt and deceptive waysand how to fight back';There's no more time for tinkering around the edges.' Betsy DeVos, 2018 ';Rethink School' tourBetsy DeVos may be the most prominent face of the push to dismantle public education, but she is in fact part of a large movement that's been steadily gaining power and notching progress for decadesamassing funds, honing their messaging, and crafting policies. While support for public education today is stronger than ever, the movement to save our schools remains fragmented, variable, and voluntary. Meanwhile, those set on destroying this beloved institution are unified, patient, and well-resourced.In A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider, co-hosts of the popular education podcast Have You Heard, lay out the increasingly potent network of conservative elected officials, advocacy groups, funders, and think tanks that have aligned behind a radical vision to unmake public education. They describe the dogma underpinning the work of the dismantlers and how it fits into the current political context, giving readers an up-close look at the policiesschool vouchers, the war on teachers' unions, tax credit scholarships, virtual schools, and moredriving the movement's agenda. Finally they look forward, surveying the world the dismantlers threaten to build.As teachers from coast to coast mobilize with renewed vigor, this smart, essential book sounds an alarm, one that should incite a public reckoning on behalf of the millions of families served by the American educational systemand many more who stand to suffer from its unmaking.

Test scores are the go-to metric of policy makers and anxious parents looking to place their children in the best schools. Yet standardized tests are a poor way to measure school performance. Using the diverse urban school district of Somerville MA as a case study, Jack Schneider's team developed a new framework to assess educational effectiveness.