Radical: Fighting to Put Students First

By now, many readers are familiar with the public education crisis that plagues the United States. American children rank well outside the top ten in reading, science and math internationally -- and their rank will continue to plummet unless the problem is addressed immediately. Michelle Rhee, the driving force behind American education reform, is ready to make a change.
Part memoir, part manifesto, RADICAL is the much-anticipated book from this fearless and pioneering advocate for better schools. Rhee's goal is to ensure that laws and policies are serving students, and she outlines concrete steps that will put the country on a dramatically different course. Informing her critique are her extraordinary experiences in education: her years of teaching in inner-city Baltimore; her turbulent tenure as chancellor of the Washington, DC public schools; and her current role as an education activist. Rhee draws on dozens of compelling examples from schools she's worked in and studied, from students who've left behind unspeakable home lives and thrived in the classroom to teachers whose radical methods have produced unprecedented leaps in student achievement. The book chronicles Rhee's awakening to the potential of every child blessed with a great teacher, her rage at realising that adults with special interests are blocking badly-needed change, and her recognition that it will take a grassroots movement to break through the barriers to outstanding public schools.
An incisive and intensely personal call-to-arms, RADICAL is required reading for anyone who seeks a guide to not only the improvement of schools, but also to create a brighter future for children.