Big Box Schools

Martin, as others before her, urges closer consideration of the collateral damage of privatizing tendencies. The questions she asks about privatizing effects on community cohesion are important, as is her candid treatment of how race matters in privatization in general and in education specifically…. The big box of privatization is wide and deep, and its contents are typically off limits to the general public. Scholarship that pries the box open and helps us see the contents for what they are (not just how they are advertised) remains important. Big Box Schools moves us a step forward in this direction. * Contemporary Sociology *
Dr. Lori Martin's brilliantly researched book, Big Box Schools: Race, Education, and the Danger of the Wal-Martization of Public Schools in America, is going to blow the cover off the 'close ranks' rationale for defending Obama Administration education policy among scholars in Black Studies, as well as all education scholars who have the courage to listen. It eloquently describes the severe price for replacing schools which were community institutions with 'pop-up schools' (Dr. Martin's brilliant term) run by fly-by-night staffs beholden to corporate interests rather than the students and families they claim to serve. -- Mark Naison, Fordham University
Dr. Martin makes the troubled history of education policy in this country accessible to a variety of disciplines. She talks candidly about racism in education and the United States’ long-standing tradition of marginalizing students, teachers, and families of color. The case studies are a wakeup call to push back against those who profit from so-called ‘education reform.’ She is asking us to stand up and fight against those who purchase a seat in policy and practice decisions when they have no expertise to offer. After reading this book, I am prepared to stand up and fight. -- Joshua S. Smith, Loyola University Maryland