By moving away from chronological and fragmented historical accounts to a thematic approach the authors provide a better understanding of the history of American education. This book describes men and women’s best intentions, failed policies, and social influences that profoundly affected education in the past. A must-read to understand social, economic, and cultural forces that influenced monumental transitions in schools to understand future trends in education.

Marjorie Ringler, EdD, associate professor and doctoral program director, Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education, East Carolina University

Nobel Laureate, Bob Dylan, may have understated things in his 1964 song The Times They Are A Changin’, especially if applied to the state of public education in 2017! For those of us who are strong believers in the ‘common good’ of public education and its centrality to nation-building in the United States, these are troubled times. Such times call for an informed perspective and wisdom born of experience – and that it what we find in Drs. Donald and Jo Ann Parkersons’ book, The Struggle for American Public Education. Public education is, indeed, an important democratic struggle and for those fully engaged in the struggle, the Parkersons’ focus on “Ten Themes in Educational History” is an important contribution and an essential read!

Charles Coble, East Carolina University