Overturning Brown: The Segregationist Legacy of the Modern School Choice Movement

by Steve Suitts

School choice, largely touted as a system that would ensure underprivileged youth have an equal opportunity in education, has grown in popularity in the past fifteen years. The rhetoric of school choice, however, resembles that of segregationists following Brown v. Board, who closed public schools and funded private institutions to block African American students from integrating with their white peers. In Overturning Brown , Steve Suitts examines the parallels between de facto segregationist policies and the modern school choice movement to expose the dangers lying behind the so-called civil rights policies of Betsy DeVos and the education privatization lobbies. Economic and educational disparity has expanded exponentially in the years following Brown v. Board, and post-Jim Crow discriminatory policies drive inequality and poverty today. It is only through recognizing the smoke and mirrors that Suitts deftly exposes in Overturning Brown that we understand the risk America’s underprivileged youth face with school voucher programs and as public funds are funneled into charter schools and predominately white and wealthy private schools.

Genres: Education, History, Nonfiction

136 pages, Hardcover

Published February 4, 2020

Reviews

[Isaac Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's impossible to deny that the root of school choice ideas such as vouchers, tax credits for private schools, and charter schools started as a way for white parents to make sure that their children didn't have to go to school with children of color. This book details exactly how and why that is the case.

Is it still this case today? Well, the charter school down the road from my house just sent home an opt-out form for Black History Month, and I've spoken with several parenting peers of mine who send their kids to charters so their kids can attend a school with other students who "share their values" (obviously meaning they are white).

White Americans are still very uncomfortable with the idea of their kids attending schools with a sizable population of racial or religious minorities. The school choice policies of Arne Duncan and Betsy DeVos just put the foot on the accelerator in perpetuating school segregation.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be generous and give this a 3 because it was an ambitious book on a subject that needed to be written about. But in 92 pages, this book attempted to do the work of 300 and to me it showed. There were so many names and numbers in quick succession that I could barely absorb one set of data before another came at me. Charts and graphs were copiously used but never referenced in the writing, which was distracting on top of everything else. I wish the author had given more space to this information or limited the scope a bit to fit in such a short book.

[Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't remember the last time a book made me so righteously angry!

I know that "such and such a book should be required reading" is a tired trope, but this really is an essential book to understanding a key piece of the systemic racism puzzle.

Highly recommended!

As a bonus, it's about 95 pages so you can read it in a day or so.

[Michelle Crunkleton-Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a good analysis of how segregationists used vouchers and other forms of school choice to evade the Brown ruling. I have a better understanding of why some people may be so firmly against school choice and vouchers because of its historical roots.

[Alana Beesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely informative and eye opening.

[Pat Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read on how school segregation arguments also fueled the current school vouchers drive.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very short and read like an academic text. A thorough exploration of the subject but nothing I hadn't already encountered in the history. The big picture of how nefarious and long-term the strategy of undermining public education, however, was revelatory.