Volume 15, No.3

Spring 2001

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  • The Return to Separate and Unequal

    By Michael Barndt and Joel McNally

    In Milwaukee, as across the country, funding disparities between urban and suburban districts raise all-important issues of civil rights and racial justice.

  • Listening to Children

    The energy and unpredictability of the classroom are wonderful antidotes to weary policy debates

    By Jonathan Kozol

    When I feel low in spirit – after days of weary legislative beggary in Washington, for instance – I go back into a public school and spend a day with […]

  • Finding Signs of Hope

    A veteran classroom teacher finds inspiration in the everyday work of committed coworkers

    By Linda Christensen

    For fifteen years, the voice of Rethinking Schools editors and writers has operated as a collective conscience reminding us that teachers can make a difference in children’s education inside and […]

  • A Lifetime of Lessons

    A parent community activist reflects on more than 40 years of organizing for better schools

    By Lola Glover

    I’ve been fighting for better schools for over 40 years, so sometimes it’s hard to remember which lesson I’ve learned from which struggle. But a few lessons stand out. One […]

  • On “Creative Extremism”

    In order to fulfill our nation's promise of an equal and high quality education for all children, teachers need to be innovative yet bold as they counter the prevailing political climate.

    By Sonia Nieto

    In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. addressed his fellow religious leaders concerning the charge of “extremism” they had leveled at him. He wrote: So the question […]

  • Standards, Markets, and Creating School Failure

    By Michael Apple

    In education, symbolic politics counts. Diametrically opposite policies often are wrapped in exactly the same vocabulary, something neo-liberal and neo-conservative educational “reformers” have recognized all too well. A fine example […]

  • Bush Plan Fails Schools

    Wrapped in compassionate rhetoric, the President's proposals center on mandatory testing voucher programs that would leave millions of children behind.

    By Stan Karp

    The President’s proposals center on mandatory testing and voucher programs.

  • Paige Leads Dubious Cast of Education Advisors

    By Stan Karp

    The Bush administration is filled with people who have spent their careers bashing public education or promoting privatization.

  • Math, Maps, and Misrepresentation

    A middle school teacher works with maps to help students use mathematics to "read the world"

    By Eric Gutstein

    What happens when students begin to question what they have been taught in school? What other questions does this help them raise, and how does it help them to better […]

  • Real-World Projects

    By Eric Gutstein

    Eric Gutstein shares some of the projects his students have been working on.

  • Sharing the Movement

    As part of Project HIP-HOP, Boston-area students embark on a 5,000-mile journey to meet with veterans of the civil rights movement.

    By Nancy Murray

    In mid August 1999, a diverse group of Boston-area high school students planted a myrtle tree they named “Freedom” at James Chaney’s grave on the outskirts of Meridian, Miss. Chaney […]

  • The Lives of Migrant Farmworkers

    A teacher introduces his suburban students to the often-ignored issues of migrant farm labor.

    By Dirk Frewing

    A high school teacher introduces his suburban students to the often-ignored issue of the exploitation of migrant farm workers.

  • Looking For the Girls

    An educator makes some disturbing discoveries when she watches a day of music videos.

    By Andrea Brown

    An educator makes some disturbing discoveries when she spends a day watching music videos on television.

  • Challenging the Images

    Following are some suggestions on how to foster conversations on the world that our young people encounter every day.

    An educator makes some disturbing discoveries when she spends a day watching music videos on television.

  • Examining Media Violenced

    How can we help students to think about the relationship between media images and violence?

    By Bakari Chavanu

    A teacher tries to help his students think about the relationship between media images and violence.

  • Videos on Sexism and Violence in the Media

    By Bill McClendon

    Tough Guise, Sut Jhally, producer. 57 min. $150. Distributed by Media Education Foundation, 800-897-0089. Focuses on media, violence, and “posing” that many boys mimic. The video covers a lot of […]

  • Decatur Revisited

    Last spring, controversy in this Illinois city exposed the racial inequalities in zero tolerance policies. A year later, not much has changed.

    By Linda Lutton

    Last spring, controversy in the Illinois town of Decatur exposed the racial inequities in ‘zero tolerance’ polices. A year later, not much has changed.

  • Suspensions Soar

    The federal government has data on expulsions for only one year, 1996-97, when 87,000 students were expelled. Suspensions, however, have risen sharply in recent years. The numbers only show the […]

  • A high school senior asks, “Who makes our graduation gowns?”

    By Andrea Townsend

    A high school senior asks, “Who makes our graduation gowns?” -and recounts the struggle that ensues.”

  • Rethinking the Basal Reader

    The first editorial by Rethinking Schools speaks across the years to provide perspective on today’s push for standardization.

  • Looking Back, Moving Forward

    Rethinking schools reflects on its first 15 years and on the struggle ahead

    By The Editors of Rethinking Schools, Spring, 2001

    Rethinking Schools reflects on its first 15 years and on the struggle ahead