Detoxing American Schools

Detoxing America Schools: From Social Agency to Academic Urgency examines the issue of toxicity in public education institutions. Today’s students are exposed to personal beliefs, lifestyle practices, and politicized educational policies—many of which are in contrast to the values of their upbringing. The innate toxic intentions of some teachers are revealed by their unabashed calls for students to take sides through avenues of shaming and even civil disobedience. Schools have become vessels of social agency. The time has come to detox American education and to call for teachers to return to the urgent, fundamental mission of educating students academically.Too many teachers are following the paradigm found on many college campuses, as they use prior experience to stir up students and bring new levels of emotion into their classrooms. The classroom environment has flipped and what was once tolerance has become the new toxic intolerance. Fractious Americans seem addicted to the use of polarized issues as social and emotional intoxicants. Groups are strategic in seizing upon differences to ensure augmentation and marginalization upon ideological lines, intensified often by the flames of social media and intolerant activism.College students emerging from Gen Z are more radicalized from their time at college. Unless American educators agree to step back from certain poisonous rhetoric and noxious activism, our nation will continue to lose sight of the academic urgency before us, and with it a generation of children.

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)

Dr. Ernest J. Zarra III is a lifelong educator. Ernie has authored ten books and over a dozen journal articles, served as a district professional development leader, and has presented as keynote speaker for various educational, and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Lewis-Clark State College.