Synopsis
Facts and evidence show the failure of the public school system to educate students. Families want desperately to believe their children are receiving the learning they need to build a solid foundation for future success; but the facts prove otherwise. Yet, criticizing education is similar to disavowing Mom and Apple Pie, despite the fact that compelling evidence by renowned writers from the fields of business, finance, accounting, economics, political science and education reveals that problems inside the system are widespread. Meanwhile, the education establishment continues to excuse its failures by regularly claiming it requires more funding, while escaping accountability for taxpayer dollars, student learning and community collaboration. Proof from across the nation supports the premise: The outdated, government-centered school system has failed in its mission and must be transformed. Returning education independence to local community schools promises to provide the best opportunity for educating each individual student and revitalizing citizen involvement in the democratic process of decision-making. Both are essential for superior educational results and freedom.
About the Author
Authors Ayn Marie Samuelson and Beatrice Davis Fowler share over 30 years of experience with the bureaucratic education system and the impacts it has on students, parents, teachers and the public. They approach the subject with a double-edged sword in creating a book that stands not only on sound research, but also on direct experience with the system itself. Solid data coupled with personal involvement gives them a unique vantage point and an "in-the-trenches" clarity from which they assess the education establishment. Ayn Marie Samuelson, M.S., M.P.A., a businesswoman, parent and community leader, respected for in-depth research and understanding of how government works, labored from outside the education system to promote accountability for student learning and a role for parents and communities in the decision-making process. Samuelson has extensive experience as a panelist and as a candidate forum moderator for national, state and local elected offices, and has appeared on public television and local radio. She served on Florida Today's editorial board community advisory panel and has contributed regularly as a guest and community columnist. An activist for accountability and public service, Ayn served on educational advisory groups, including the Brevard Public Schools Professional Development Council. She co-authored an educational plan entitled, "The Education Career Achievement Program" (ECAP) and taught at a state university. Samuelson also home-schooled her son for nearly three years, after-which he returned to public school. Bea Fowler, M.A., a former business owner, journalist for a local paper and school board member of a large Florida school district, worked inside the system to promote fiscal accountability for the public. Fowler earned her degree in history, taught community college courses and served on the capital outlay committee in the local school district. Armed with knowledge about how the bureaucracy spent taxpayer dollars, Fowler successfully organized an effort in Brevard County, Florida to defeat a fiscally irresponsible $350 million school bond issue. Later, Fowler served eight years on the 75,000-student, Brevard County Public School Board, where she became involved in both local and state educational issues. Fowler struggled throughout her board career with an entrenched system that regularly failed students, taxpayers and teachers.
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