Cutting School: The Segrenomics of American Education

This book gets down to the nit and gritty of schools and I love it so much. It is a must read if you want to be a teacher or already are.

"Cutting School The Segrenomics of American Education" is a must read for all people that care about public education and saving it from private and corporate takeover. Dr. Rooks eloquently asserts that the United States has failed to stand or make states accountable to the promise of integration from the 1954 Board v. Board of Education decision. Instead, the 600 billion dollar public education budget is being abused by private corporations that are profiting from apartheid schooling with no benefit to Black children. As a school leader and an integrationist, I believe that integration is the answer. We all benefit from disrupting the racist segregated public school systems that persist in our country. Thank you Dr. Rooks for calling out the truth about charter schools, vouchers and misguided white philanthropy.

A must read for all educators. Rooks clearly lays out the lucrative nature of educating black, brown, and poor students. What struck me the most was in the insight that what these new reform movements want to install in our most desperate schools are programs that would never be accepted in more affluent district and that are rarely, if ever, developed with the communities in which the schools lie. In fact, we know what works: educational equity and the drive to educate all.Rooks explores the historical roots of reform movements and how their leaders make a lot of money on the backs of poor students of color. These historical points allow us to make more sense of what we're currently seeing in education.There is hope out there but it takes the keen eye of someone like Rooks to help us see our path forward. Highly recommended!

Every now and again one finds a book that takes an issue that many education and progressive people believe they understand and provides a historical and sociological analysis that takes their knowledge to a different plane. For anyone who cares about Public Education - and its intersection with Class and Race-- Cutting School is not only a must but also an inspiring call to action.Rooks discusses the history of Public Education in the United States- with all the connivance to gut it and to ensure that segregation, de facto if not de jure, persists. She discusses the subsidy that poor and Black communities gave and continue to give to the Education of the rich and privileged all the while finding their own kids in dilapidated schools with no heating, terrible instruction, and little by way of encouragement. She discusses the greedy entrepreneurs who profit from this crime and also the resistance to this provided by amazing and courageous people.Rooks' analysis is brilliant.

I've never been moved to write a review of a book on Amazon before - but this book should be required reading for everyone involved in education in the US today - parents, teachers, administrators, school boards and community members. Noliwe Rooks presents a well-researched, compelling history of how our segregated school system came to be. I've read many books on education, but learned so much from this one. Beyond describing our history, she shows clear evidence of some of the current for-profit corporate trends in the present day education reform/charter movement. She is a very good writer - the book never got bogged down by facts and court cases (although many are presented) - she connects the policies to actual people and stories, making this book very hard to put down - and one that you want to share with everyone you know!

A hard truth, historical reflection of our systems repeated failures to adequately service needs of children. A hopeful future, call to escalate Ss, Ts and parents POV in redesigning the purpose & beneficiaries of educational spaces. THEY are the vested interest.Loved this book, particularly for edu leaders seeking more historical knowledge about the policy structures and corporate systems continuing to sabatoge black and brown student's growth and success.

I thought this book was very informative looking at education in a way I had never considered - that it is making a profit off of our poor schools. Shameful and seems like a long road back.

While the topics covered in this book are critical to understanding challenges in public education, I was disappointed. Throughout the book the author makes logical leaps without supporting her assertions with evidence. At times, she stretches material to try to connect issues in a way that doesn't quite land. For example, she compares prosecutions of parents who enroll their children out of their school zones with the prosecutions of charter school leaders for embezzling funds. She never convincingly makes the connection. The last chapter ended abruptly without tying together the content. While reading the book, I often found myself asking for more evidence or for more clarity.