Building the Federal Schoolhouse: Localism and the American Education State

Description: Creating a truly national school system has, over the past fifty years, reconfigured local expectations and practices in American public education. Through a 50-year examination of Alexandria, Virginia, this book reveals how the 'education state' is nonetheless shaped by the commitments of local political regimes and their leaders and constituents.

Review Quotes: "Much of what is written about education policy today is like the proverbial blind men and the elephant, touching pieces but missing how they fit together. In Building the Federal Schoolhouse, Douglas Reed pulls together the big picture of how multiple levels of government, and the politics within and across these levels, account for the policies and programs adopted and implemented today." --Jeffrey R. Henig, Professor of Political Science & Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

"Douglas Reed tells a fascinating and convincing story of U.S. reformers, over decades, legislating equity in local schools. Yet in doing so those policymakers overlooked local imperatives that have both limited and reshaped the reforms. The resulting institution has been a unique blend of top-down and bottom-up politics creating a Federal Schoolhouse." --Larry Cuban, Professor Emeritus of Education, Stanford University

"Those who overlook education as a domain of American political development would do well to read Douglas Reed's Building the Federal Schoolhouse. Those who see little point in analyzing local politics in an age of globalism can learn from this vital work. Reed shows how organizational localism impinges on aspirations for greater equality of opportunity." --Clarence Stone, Research Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, George Washington University