Not Paved for Us: Black Educators and Public School Reform in Philadelphia

by Camika Royal

Not Paved for Us chronicles a fifty-year period in Philadelphia education, and offers a critical look at how school reform efforts do and do not transform outcomes for Black students and educators.

This illuminating book offers an extensive, expert analysis of a school system that bears the legacy, hallmarks, and consequences that lie at the intersection of race and education. Urban education scholar Camika Royal deftly analyzes decades of efforts aimed at improving school performance within the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), in a brisk survey spanning every SDP superintendency from the 1960s through 2017.

Royal interrogates the history of education and educational reforms, recounting city, state, and federal interventions. She covers SDP's connections with the Common School Movement and the advent of the Philadelphia Freedom Schools, and she addresses federal policy shifts, from school desegregation to the No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Acts. Her survey provides sociopolitical context and rich groundwork for a nuanced examination of why many large urban districts struggle to implement reforms with fidelity and in ways that advance Black students academically and holistically.

In a bracing critique, Royal bears witness to the ways in which positive public school reform has been obstructed: through racism and racial capitalism, but also via liberal ideals, neoliberal practices, and austerity tactics. Royal shows how, despite the well-intended actions of larger entities, the weight of school reform, here as in other large urban districts, has been borne by educators striving to meet the extensive needs of their students, families, and communities with only the slightest material, financial, and human resources. She draws on the experiences of Black educators and community members and documents their contributions.

Not Paved for Us highlights the experiences of Black educators as they navigate the racial and cultural politics of urban school reform. Ultimately, Royal names, dissects, and challenges the presence of racism in school reform policies and practices while calling for an antiracist future.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

312 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2022

Reviews

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not Paved for Us was a great analysis of the education efforts that have been made in Philadelphia since 1967.
This entire book was well researched and articulated and I really enjoyed it. It definitely highlights how far we still have to go in education equity (which we already knew but it's nice to have academic texts backing it up.)

[Rolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Royal manages to do two remarkable things in this book, that are unfortunately not as common as one would hope in academic texts: 1) she has very effectively and comprehensively covered an important period in history, and 2) she has made incredibly cogent critiques of prevailing policies and institutional structures in K-12 education in the U.S. While this book is very specific in its focus, I have no real connection to Philadelphia myself and yet found myself nodding enthusiastically and underlining so many lines that could very easily be used to describe the school systems in which I have both studied and worked.

All in all, this book is a very important contribution to the existing literature on school reform.

[Kyle Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful and gutting analysis of the “reform” efforts that have taken place in Philadelphia since 1967. The rise of charter schools, the racist state and city funding systems, and the failures of many superintendents.

As a charter school teacher, this book has had me question my own role in these racist systems of oppression, and my own biases as a white educator in a primarily Black school district.

[June Freifelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally researched and well-written. I learned so much.

[BagelBitch 69 · Rating 5 out of 5]

haunting, infuriating, brilliant, and true to my own experiences teaching in philly. a book all white libs should read.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but I’m always hesitant with someone who complains about all aspects without proposing potential solutions

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did they have a proofreader? So many mistakes that should have been corrected.