This book comes at an important moment in time. Federal education programs and spending formulas that were written when Get Smart, Gunsmoke, and Green Acres led the TV ratings are not working for families today watching reruns of these shows on demand. Americans, rightfully, expect customization and responsiveness on the part of service providers, from hailing a ride with a smartphone to choosing how and where their children are educated.
As the year 2020 approaches, Americans still associate schooling with housing—because the federal government still assigns children to schools based on their families’ ZIP code. This arrangement has not only produced significant inequities in education, but has left low-income children several grade levels behind their peers in math and reading.
- Foreword by Heritage President, Kay Coles James
- Edited by Lindsey M. Burke, Ph.D., and Jonathan Butcher