Captive Kids

Captive Kids

Consuming Children

"This volume argues that people are entering another stage in the construction of the young as the demarcations between education, entertainment and advertising collapse and as the lines between the generations both blur and harden. Drawing from the voices of students and from contemporary cultural theory this book provokes the reader to ponder the role of the school in the "age of desire"."--BOOK JACKET.

Selling Out Our Schools

The central issue in educational reform should be how to confront educational inequalities, but the conservative movement has tried to transform the issue from one of inequality to one of "choice." The choice being promoted by conservative forces comes at the expense of community in that it seeks to set up schools that respond to the purchasing power of individual consumers. A market-based system of schooling would destroy the few democratic grains made in public education in recent decades. Two themes dominate in the articles in this publication; one is concern for equality of educational opportunity, and the other is commitment to public education as an integral part of the democratic vision of this country. Twenty-one articles explore educational vouchers and market ideology, and eight focus on public school choice plans and charter schools. Seven articles explore the conservative agenda with regard to school choice. Lists of major organizations affiliated with the economic and religious/far right wings of the Republican party, conservative publications, and progressive groups monitoring the right wing are included, along with a lists of nine books and six organizations as resources on vouchers. (SLD)