Susan Zelman and Margaret Sorensen have written the education book that America needs. Public education, built to ensure predictability and stability for adults, is struggling to innovate and adapt to COVID-era students’ needs. It’s also walled off from community assets like social service agencies, socially conscious companies and private schools. Enrollment declines and teacher shortages are evidence that things are not working. Zelman and Sorensen show how schools can have the mix of freedom and incentives to innovate, and how schools can be held publicly accountable whether they are chartered, private, or run by school districts. The system of fair funding, parent choice, school control of hiring, openness to new schools and public oversight based on specific school missions can transform and rescue post-Pandemic K-12 education.

Paul T. Hill, Arizona State University; author, "A Democratic Constitution for Public Education"

For the general public and teacher education students who want to learn about how education works in America, Zelman and Sorensen’s book offers a thought-provoking account about curriculum and instruction, making teaching a more honorable profession, school choice, community engagement, school finance, and governance. The authors provide an interesting model though not perfect that can stimulate our thinking to reimagine new systems of schools that can provide ALL students and their parents with more options for better schools that address their unique needs. This is a must read for all who want to see the current system be more equitable and eliminate the culture wars that tear America apart.

Richard Ross, former superintendent, Reynoldsburg school system; former state superintendent, public instruction; member, Board of Trustees, Bowling Green State University

With great care and detail Zelman and Sorensen take the reader on a journey through the history of education in America, and review the current state of education policy to lay the foundation for a provocative recasting of the nation’s education system along more pluralistic lines. A worthy read for anyone engaged in re-imaging a brighter future for students and families through a more focused and responsive education system.

Paolo DeMaria, CEO and president, National Association of State Boards of Education; superintendent, public instruction of Ohio (2016 to 2021)

In this comprehensive overview of efforts to improve American education, past and present, Susan Tave Zelman and Margaret Erlandson Sorensen offer readers a useful guide to the major issues in the field. While advocates will find plenty of specifics with which to quibble, Zelman's and Sorenson's commitment to the promise of American education comes through loud and clear.

Micheal J. Petrilli, president, Thomas B. Fordham Institute and visiting fellow, Hoover Institution

Drs. Zelman and Sorensen suggest we seize the opportunity to grow a new foundation based on respect for our democratic principles for public education.This book advocates for creating a vigorous national dialogue to stop making public education a political tool and create systems that balance societal needs with those of all children and their families. Examining both past and future perspectives about the structural barriers that have mitigated against efforts to reform public schools, Zelman and Sorensen strike a chord as they analyze the lens with which we plan for schooling, centering the dialogue around student-centered culture building, and not the needs or desires of adults in the general public. Their key questions are important for anyone interested in schools to reflect upon, during a most crucial time in the history of our nation.

Kirk Koennecke, CEO- Superintendent, Indian Hill EVSD

American education is at a crossroads and all those invested in its success need to understand the dynamics that have made schooling a commodity that has been cheapened by political myopia. Zelman and Sorenson insightfully document the way education has been bought and sold by political self-interests and how a new pluralistic model that engages a wide range of stakeholders is essential for fostering new and more effective paradigms of practice.

Thomas J. Lasley, interim CEO, Learn to Earn Dayton; professor and dean emeritus, The University of Dayton