“If We’re Willing to Do Our Part”
I’m in new territory. While I’ve written other books, to the best of my knowledge none of them have been reviewed by an objective, independent source. So when I met with the editor of my local newspaper, the Green Valley News & Sun, and asked him to review America’s Schools at a Turning Point: And how we THE PEOPLE can help shape their future, I was more than a little interested in what he would say about it. Running the risk of seeming to be self-serving, I’d like to share his review – not because I’m such a great writer but because he captured the essence of why I wrote the book. Here is his review:
Why would Green Valley be interested in a book on education reform? The answer is in Corky O’Callaghan’s subtitle: “And how THE PEOPLE can help shape their future.”
O’Callaghan, who lives in Green Valley, informs, then encourages us to use that information for good.
The books is easy to understand yet thorough in its presentation of where our education system has been, where we are and how we can help shape the future.
O’Callaghan takes us through various national efforts to reform education — from Outcome Based Education in the 1980s to No Child Left Behind to Race to the Top and our current Common Core, and plows through myths — everything from class size to dollars in the classroom. He says educators and students are drowning in good intentions by those calling the shots, and it’s going to take everybody to turn it around.
O’Callaghan uses engaging examples from around the country of getting people involved and talking about education. Think this book isn’t for you because your kids are out of school? Think again. Corky O’Callaghan delivers a thoughtful plan that just might work — if we’re willing to do our part.
— Dan Shearer, Editor, Green Valley News & Sun
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