Vicki Alger - Failure: The Federal Miseducation of Americas Children

failure

failure

The Federal
Misedukation of
Americas Children

Vicki E. Alger

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

Failure: The Federal Misedukation of Americas Children

Copyright 2016 by the Independent Institute

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by electronic or mechanical means now known or to be invented, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Nothing herein should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Institute or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.

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Cover Design: Denise Tsui

Cover Image: iStockphoto

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Alger, Vicki E.

Title: Failure : the federal misedukation of Americas children / Vicki E. Alger, Ph.D.

Description: Oakland, CA : Independent Insitute, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2014049002| ISBN 9781598132120 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781598132137 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: United States. Department of EducationHistory. | Education and stateUnited StatesHistory. | EducationAims and objectivesUnited StatesHistory. | Federal aid to educationUnited StatesHistory.

Classification: LCC LB2807 .A74 2016 | DDC 379.73dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2014049002

Contents

Acknowledgments

OVER THE PAST several years researching and writing Failure, the support of my husband David was a constant inspiration that made possible its eventual completion.

Well before I began drafting the manuscript, several people provided immense insight into the scope and structure of Failure. I am very grateful to Carrie Lukas for her advice and guidance during the initial planning and outline stages. JuliAnna Jelinek provided indispensible suggestions and help in expanding the original manuscript outline. The many conversations we had helped make the manuscript far better than I thought possible.

I also wish to thank several colleagues and friends whose research assistance and recommendations have helped make Failure more comprehensive than I originally imagined. Christina Villegass insights on the early history of American education, before the advent of government schooling, helped bring to light the overlooked andespecially from todays perspectiveenviable successes of a diversified education marketplace unfettered by centralized government management. I am also grateful to Diana McKibben for her research assistance in identifying alternative models to an increasingly intrusive US Department of Education. Her suggestions helped reaffirm that our Framers were right to leave constitutional authority over education to parents and citizens in each state.

Evelyn Stacey Heils assistance in exploring the education systems of top-performing countries helped underscore the fact that competition for students among schools, not the size or spending of any government education agency, is a leading factor in strong student and school performance. I thank her for our many conversations over the years on this subject.

During the editing stages of Failure, several people offered comments and suggestions for which I am very grateful. The anonymous reviewers helped strengthen the manuscripts style, organization, and historical content.

I am especially grateful to the Independent Institute and its President, David J. Theroux, for sponsoring and overseeing the entire project. In particular, I am indebted to Independents Acquisitions Director Roy M. Carlisle and Research Director William F. Shughart II for their editorial guidance, to Shelby Sullivan for preparing the Department of Education Chronology, and to the late Publications Director Gail Saari and the rest of the talented staff at Independent for their masterly work at each stage of the books development.

United States Department of Education Chronology