Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy
by Derek Black
Our discussion of Schoolhouse Burning will took place over the course of three evenings, including a visit by Derek Black during the first session and concluding with planning advocacy and action as an outgrowth of the learning and conversations that take place over the course of the program.
So you can pace your reading: We will not be beginning with Chapter 1 in our discussions. Instead, we will turn first to the historical overview Derek Black gives in Chapters 2-7, then move through the Civil Rights era and the backlash that followed to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education in Chapters 8-9. After that, we will consider the present situation and possibilities for what comes next in Chapters 1 and 10-11.
In our third session we will move from study to action and will work together to imagine and organize advocacy on behalf of public schools informed by this book and our discussions.
You will find links to a brief reading guide for each session, which may be useful for focusing your reading as you go or refreshing your memory before the discussion. The reading questions are followed by five shorter discussion questions meant for use during our sessions. You may, of course, add any of the reading guide questions to your discussion if you like. Finally, each section ends with some things to do or consider before the next session (or after we are all done).
How to purchase Schoolhouse Burning locally: (link)
DISCUSSION GUIDES
Session 1 March 10, 2021: Chapters 2-7 (link)
Audio from Session 1 first 30 minutes when Author Derek Black addresses 75 zoom participants. (link)
WCPN interview with Derek Black before our discussion (link)
Session 2 March 24, 2021: Chapters 1, 8-11 (link)
Session 3 April 7, 2021: Next Steps (link)
DISCUSSION GUIDE as one document (PDF)
