Schooling Alone

Schooling Alone is a look at the history of public education and the current state of the efforts to privatize our public schools. This work looks at who is really choosing and what we, as members of a democratic republic, are losing as privatization of our publicly funded institutions moves forward. There is a difference between a capitalist economic theory and the values of a democratic republic. This work asks the reader to consider what our values regarding public education should be.

In Schooling Alone, Cardine’s passion for the public good is palpable. He lays bear the tensions between the penchant for free markets and the universal commitment to public education via a detailed examination that demonstrates where the once well-meaning idea of school choice has gone awry. He takes on some of the most challenging issues in education policy, such as the societal implications of parents’ “freedom to choose” and the adverse economic implications of charter school operators “running schools like businesses.” It’s a warning about what’s at stake in the unfettered expansion of school choice policies., Curt Cardine believes in quality education and the original idea of charter schools led by innovative teaching professionals. In Schooling Alone he unveils how charter schools have become a for profit industry where corporations make money off children and both government and the market fail to provide sufficient oversight. While we have some wonderful charter schools as initially intended, Cardine shows how the system is failing to remove the bad actors.

Curtis J. Cardine has served as a teacher, principal, corporate officer, and superintendent in New Hampshire public schools and Arizona charter schools. He is currently a research fellow for the Grand Canyon Institute, author and a nationally recognized expert on charter and public school finances and governance.