Honors Theses
Advisor
John White, Ph.D.
Department
Teacher Education
Publication Date
4-1-2019
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Abstract
With the recent push to reform the United States Education system, public schools have become under siege. Education has shifted away from educating for moral democratic citizenship, a liberal arts curriculum, to education for meeting economic demands. The aims of education have changed, and it is clear that reforms made in the late nineteenth century still resonate in the public school system today. Therefore, public schools are at risk of extinction from privatizing movements and undercuts to public education funding. Examining the implications of progressive education in the late nineteenth century and studying many key figures such as John Dewey, Isaac Kandel, and Randolph Bourne will prove how the aims of education have transformed into educating for economic development within the United States. After evaluating the legacies that progressive education left on the school system, it becomes evident that the remnants of progressive education can still be seen in schools across the country. Then, studying current legislation passed on education starting with No Child Left Behind and Common Core will illustrate the positive and negative effects on the school system. Using that legislation, it will demonstrate that there are attempts to privatize public schools by the legacy of federal reforms under Clinton, Bush and Obama. The main focus of the research is analyzing trends in education through the use of qualitative analysis. Looking at the charter school movement will be the bulk of the research and how charter schools affect public schools. Overall, the purpose of this research is to demonstrate the privatizing of public schools and illustrate the need for a public school system.
Permission Statement
This item is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and may only be used for noncommercial, educational, and scholarly purposes
Keywords
Undergraduate research
Disciplines
Education
eCommons Citation
Berkley, Macey, "The Commodification of Education And the Threat to Public Schools" (2019). Honors Theses. 202.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_theses/202
