Annotated Bibliography
Achen, Christopher H. and Bartels, Larry M. Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2016. In this book the authors describe the challenges of maintaining and educated and engaged electorate, as well as the challenges that the electorate then has in maintaining accountability of elected officials.
“An Unfair Property Tax System.” New York Times (New York, NY), Apr. 2, 2021. This editorial describes the discrepancies in assessing properties in neighborhoods of different economic status and relates that to the issue of unequal school funding.
Brown, Dorothy A. “Your Homes Value is Based on Racism.” New York Times (New York, NY), March 20, 2021. The Brown essay discusses the variation in home property values based on the racial makeup of a neighborhood and ties this variation to variations in school funding as well.
“California School Dashboard” California Department of Education, State of California. 2019. https://www.caschooldashboard.org/ California’s school rating website provides information in a number of categories such as math and ELA scores, graduation and suspension rates, and more. It serves as a central location for data that can be used to make comparisons between schools and districts.
Deaton, Angus. The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2013. Deaton’s book focuses of the challenges of lingering inequality in a world where vast improvements in living conditions have occurred. Of special value to my students will be his writings on the challenges of measurement.
Graetz, Michael J, and Shapiro, Ian. The Wolf at the Door: The Menace of Economic Insecurity and How to Fight it. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2020. Shapiro and Graetz discuss, among other things, the challenges of building and maintaining coalitions and what stake business have in maintaining a well-educated workforce. These two ideas will be the most relevant for students experiencing this unit.
Gusmano, Michael K. “Residential Segregation and Publicly Spirited Democracy.” Democracy in Crisis: Civic Learning and the Reconstruction of Common Purpose, ed. Gregory E. Kaebnick et al., special report Hastings Center Report 51, no. 1 (2021): S23-S28. DOI: 10.1002/hast.1225 This work discussed the challenges created by combining local school funding and resident attitudes about funding programs that would not directly benefit them.
Hill, Matt. “Funding Schools Equitably Results-Based Budgeting in the Oakland Unified School District.” Center for American Progress, June 10, 2008. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2008/06/10/4571/funding-schools-equitably-results-based-budgeting-in-the-oakland-unified-school-district/. This report outlines changes in the Oakland schools budgeting procedures that led to an improved API due, according to the author, to the increased local control. Students will review and evaluate this information use it to help them research other districts that have made similar changes.
Levin, Matt. “The Block That Prop 13 Built,” CALmatters California Dream Series, http://projects.scpr.org/prop-13/history/, accessed August 2, 2021. This site provides students will specific data about the effects of Prop 13 on actual neighborhoods in California, and also presents information about those effects on residents in a specific Oakland neighborhood so students can see that it is actual people affected, not just impersonal tax rates.
McCann, Adam. “States with the Best and Worst School System.” WalletHub. Evolution Finance, Inc., 2021. https://wallethub.com/edu/e/states-with-the-best-schools/5335 Similar to the California Dashboard but with additional commentary, this article will allow students to make comparisons between schools nationwide.
Reed, Douglas S. “Not in My Schoolyard: Localism and Public Opposition to Funding Schools Equally.” Social Science Quarterly 82, no. 1 (March 2001): 34-50 (accessed May 1, 2021). https://222.jstor.org/stable/42955700 Another article that outlines the challenges of trying to fund schools with citywide/town wide property taxes when school districts do not necessarily align with those boundaries.
Rosenberg, Gerald N. The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change? Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 2008. A comprehensive look at and critique of the role that courts play in changing society. Of note to students in this unit are Rosenberg’s writings about the Supreme Court and Brown v Board.
Russakoff, Dale. The Prize: Who’s in Charge of Anerica’s Schools? Boston, Mariner Books, 2015 This book outlines the events surrounding a philanthropic gift to Newark public schools and the interaction between the giver, the manager, and the recipients of that money. Students in this unit will focus their attention on two chapters that outline specific improvement efforts within the district.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/633/808/1678053/ A court case involving SJUSD (a local California school district) and school segregation in the 1970s and beyond. This will serve as a very real and relatable example of the resegregation that has occurred since the 1970s.
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