Dr. Zarra is a leading cultural expert and in Detoxing American Schools: From Social Agency to Academic Urgency he lays out a very clear description of how Western culture has become increasingly toxic over the past several decades. He makes a clear case that much of the perpetuation and increase of this toxicity is directly caused by some troubling trends in the education sectors. In addition, he provides some tools for identifying such toxic behaviors as well as effectively managing/alleviating them. This book is a must-read for those in education, including administrators, teachers, and parents alike.

W. Howard Griswold, Senior Systems Engineer, Career Technical Education Trainer; lecturer

Dr. Zarra presents an excellent analysis of the factors causing toxicity in our public schools and the background leading to these issues. This book is a shocking wake-up call to parents, teachers, school boards and administrators in public schools. No one can read this book and not come away with a greater understanding of the toxic environment in public education and many of the factors that are driving teachers from classrooms, as well as parents removing their students from public education in favor of private schools and home schooling. Dr. Zarra's over four decades of experience in education make him particularly well-equipped to address these topics and offer some solutions to this growing problem in our education system.

Roy Frady, MAT Secondary Science and Math; Doctoral Candidate, Education

This book takes a headlong dive into schools that have veered from focusing on academics and into toxic social activism. Dr. Zarra points out how and why this has happened and challenges readers to consider the toxic realities in our educational institutions. He offers suggestions for schools to return to teaching about subjects, rather than teaching from within subjects, thereby enhancing academic urgency. If you work within our educational institutions, or want to understand the toxic environment in which students and teachers are engaged, this book is a most worthwhile read.

Mark Sizemore, B.S. Health Sciences, HMC (SS), USN (Retired)