"Those who analyze the intersections of ideology, politics, and policy formation will find McAndrews's study to be as entertaining as it is instructive."--The Historian "Highly recommended."--Choice "A valuable contribution to our understanding of education today and in the last half of the twentieth century."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society "An exhaustively detailed history and absolute 'must read' for any parent, educator, or political professional concerned about the future of local and national educational policy. Highly recommended."--Wisconsin Bookwatch "As the controversy over the No Child Left Behind Act indicates, federal education policy continues to be a matter of substantial public interest. This engagingly written and thoroughly researched study is an impressive piece of scholarship and provides an excellent reference source for everyone interested in these crucial debates over the nation's future."--Leland Ware, Louis L. Redding Chair and Professor of Law & Public Policy, University of Delaware "By focusing on the role that seven recent American Presidents have had in shaping education policy, McAndrews is able to ferret out the nuanced, complex, ironic, and in some ways tragic history of three incredibly important social issues since the Lyndon B. Johnson years: public school aid, nonpublic school aid, and school desegregation. In so doing, McAndrews has forged the groundwork for a new master narrative in the history of American schools, a narrative that has national politics at its core. By connecting schools to Presidents, McAndrews has done historians, politicians, and educators of all kinds a great service. Those who study or directly deal with 'accountability,' 'vouchers,' and 'high-stakes testing,' will want to read this book. Truly without knowing the history of these political battles, how can a nation forge its future education system?"--Andrew E. Kersten, author of Race, Jobs, and the War: The FEPC in the Midwest, 1941-46 "There is no competition for McAndrews' gracefully written and unique study of how American presidents from Johnson through Clinton have dealt with K-12 educational issues."--Abigail Thernstrom, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education
