A dialogue with author Barbara Miner on privatization and resistance
Photo: courtesy of The New Press
Against a backdrop of unprecedented school closings and disinvestment in public education in Philadelphia, journalist and author Barbara Miner will be in town Thursday to share wisdom and hope for our schools’ future. She will be discussing her new book, Lessons from the Heartland: A turbulent half century of public education in an iconic American city, at an event and book signing hosted by the Media Mobilizing Project, Parents United for Public Education, TAG-Philly, and the Philadelphia Student Union.
I first met Barbara years ago as a rookie teacher who found inspiration and hope in the social-justice teaching journal Rethinking Schools. Barbara was the journal's managing editor at the time and had overseen its seminal publication Rethinking Columbus. Over her 40 years of journalism, Barbara has chronicled broad movements around education justice and injustice. Most recently, her piece “The False Promise of School Choice” took on the rhetoric of the privatization movement during the presidential election.
In reviewing Lessons from the Heartland, in anticipation of Barbara’s visit, I was glad it opened with this quote by William Faulkner: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” For many of us in Philadelphia, the struggle around the state's