Why School Reform Is Failing and What We Need to Do about It evolved from a review of the educational and managerial theory and history that shaped our contemporary public education system. This theoretical construct is then interpreted through more than forty years of valuable experience acquired by the author while working in the trenches of education reform. This book's amalgamation of theory and practice is translated into ten lessons learned from attempts to reform and improve public education to date. It provides the perspective of a practitioner as to how and why the unintended consequences of well-intentioned people have hindered, rather than helped, to reform and improve our schools. It calls for us to pause, take a deep breath, and learn from the experiences of the past before launching the latest reform de jour in a frenzied quest to find a silver bullet or quick fix to the many, varied and complex issues that are enmeshed in education reform. More importantly, it presents a roadmap and recommendations for steps that need to be taken to reform school reform so that we can realize meaningful and sustainable improvements in student achievement.

"This book will raise eyebrows! Some will be astounded that Wartgow has precisely nailed-down the elements of school reform that currently don?t work. Others will be intrigued by his recommendations for steps that need to be taken by parents, teachers, administrators, legislators, citizens and labor leaders to rethink strategies and apply them long-term. Others will be offended because he posits that we all have abdicated our stake in bolstering student achievement...." - Views

"This book will raise eyebrows! Some will be astounded that Wartgow has precisely nailed-down the elements of school reform that currently don’t work. Others will be intrigued by his recommendations for steps that need to be taken by parents, teachers, administrators, legislators, citizens and labor leaders to rethink strategies and apply them long-term. Others will be offended because he posits that we all have abdicated our stake in bolstering student achievement." - Views

"This book will raise eyebrows! Some will be astouned that Wartgow has precisely nailed-down the elements of school reform that currently don't work. Others will be intrigued by his recommendations for steps that need to be taken by parents, teachers, administrators, legislators, citizens, and labor leaders to rethink strategies and apply them long-term." - Views, Spring 2008