November 8th: History in the Headlines

The Education Revolution in Arizona

A discussion with Dr. Jon Hale, historian of education and Associate Professor Education Policy, Organization and Leadership

Curriculum & Instruction at University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign.

His latest book, the Choice We Face, details the history of school choice in the US, from its birth in the 1950s as the most effective weapon to oppose integration, to its lasting impact in reshaping the public education system today.

While many Americans see school choice as normal, we don’t often connect it to the complex history of race and inequality in education though its roots run directly to the supposed end of segregation in American schools.

The idea of school choice, which emerged in the 1950s amid the backlash to the civil rights movement, has often been disguised as a symbol of freedom and individualism—a perfect fit for the zeitgeist of Arizona’s libertarian wild-west leaning politics. Hale has specialized in tracing the movement for school choice over the last 75 years of resegregation and will connect this discussion specifically to the struggles for equality in education here in Arizona.

Where are we now and what can we do about it?

There is a zoom option for this event. Please email Lauren.Lefty@nau.edu for the Zoom meeting link and passcode.