Setting the Record Straight: Responses to Misconceptions About Public Education in the U.S. [Paperback]

Gerald W. Bracey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 032500594X | ISBN-13: 978-0325005942 | Publication Date: August 31, 2004 | Edition: 2

Gerald Bracey knows there are three kinds of lies in education policy: lies, damned lies, and the statistics that reactionary reformers tout as evidence in favor of dismantling our public schools. In this second and substantially updated edition of the hard-hitting Setting the Record Straight, Bracey, whom Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews called "one of this country's most authoritative defenders of the work of public school teachers," goes toe-to-toe with the opponents of quality public education. You'll learn how to discredit them in your own discussions by using the very logic and statistical analyses they purport to have on their side.

In this series of smart, forceful analyses, Bracey homes in on specific topics like vouchers, school funding, and comparisons to international test scores, themes around which agitators have created a host of mythological American school failures from the flimsiest of evidence. In fact, each essay begins with a question you might commonly hear in conversation about these alleged shortcomings, to which Bracey provides a brief, sound- byte-ready rebuttal. Then he follows it up with a full-length explanation, replete with statistical data and talking points that fully support his assertions-and silence those who would undermine education with disinformation.

Beginning in his introduction with the seed that germinated in Ronald Reagan's "Nation at Risk" sloganeering and quickly fast-forwarding to the present-day federal intrusion into schools that has propelled so many political careers, Bracey stamps out the weeds of anti-public education advocacy and leaves no threat to quality teaching and learning behind. With Gerald Bracey and the truth behind you, you'll confidently take on the foes of public education in your own community and never again be cowed by the insidious arguments of education "reformers."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Since 1984 Gerald W. Bracey has written a monthly column for Phi Delta Kappan making research accessible to teaching practitioners. In 2003 the column received the Interpretive Scholarship Award from the American Educational Research Association. Bracey spends about half his time as an independent researcher and writer and splits the rest between George Mason University and the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. He has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Stanford University and has held positions in private firms, local school districts, universities, and state departments of education.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann; 2 edition (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 032500594X
• ISBN-13: 978-0325005942
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stepping Up to the Plate, November 11, 2004

By 

Walt Gardner (Los Angeles CA (USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Setting the Record Straight: Responses to Misconceptions About Public Education in the U.S. (Paperback)

Gerald W. Bracey is one of few authors today who isn't afraid to confront the exquisitely orchestrated and deeply financed campaign to eradicate public education in this country. "Setting the Record Straight" is his latest contribution exposing the hidden agenda that is at the root of the accountability movement.

Bracey identifies 17 misconceptions about public education. Each chapter begins with a capsule Q-A format. The question consists of a typical charge leveled at public schools, which he then answers in a sentence or two at most. The rest of the chapter develops his response with documented evidence -- not ideology. His ability to shun jargon makes what he says all the more convincing.

"Setting the Record Straight" serves as an invaluable corrective to the case being built by those who stand to profit directly or indirectly by the elimination of public schools. It takes its place with the best books on the subject. Not all readers will be pleased with his remarks, but they will have to respect him.

Walt Gardner taught for 28 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He writes frequently on education.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful debunking, September 5, 2007

By 

John Farley "professor" (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Setting the Record Straight: Responses to Misconceptions About Public Education in the U.S. (Paperback)

The media are crawling with supposed experts in education, most of them at right-wing think tanks, who claim that public education in the US has declined in recent decades, and is terrible compared with other countries. Gerald Bracey shows that there has been no serious recent decline in public education in the US, and that the US is about average by comparison with other advanced countries. This puts him at odds with conservatives.

And not just conservatives: liberals have mostly joined conservatives in crying crisis, although for different reasons. Liberals want to increase funding for public education, and think that the best way to raise funding is to cry that there is a major crisis.

Anyone who has been taken in by media myths about US public education MUST read Gerald Bracey's books.

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading, October 20, 2010

By 

madbee (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Setting the Record Straight: Responses to Misconceptions About Public Education in the U.S. (Paperback)

Gerald Bracey shows how statistics have been manipulated or purposely ignored to push the false message on the American people that our public schools are failing. He explains the agenda which worked to privatize prisons and hospitals, of corporate interests trying to make a profit on our schools by demonizing teachers, unions, and the quality of education in America's schools. Bracey goes through the common (often baseless) arguments and counters them with hard facts.

This is a very readable book, written in an interesting and understandable prose. For example, when he discusses why SAT scores show a decline, Bracey explains how the original scores and averages were based on a small number of mostly private school students in 1941. Considering the large numbers and the diversity of the students who take SAT's now, they actually show very little or no decline. Also he breaks down the tests that show how the United States is supposedly behind other countries by explaining how the testing is done and who is tested here and in other countries.