For decades, the U.S. invested ever-growing fortunes into its antiquated K-12 education system in exchange for steadily worse outcomes. At the same time, Americans spent more than they could afford on higher education, driven by the kind of cheap credit that fueled the housing crisis. The graduates of these systems were left unprepared for a global economy, unable to find jobs, and on the hook for student loans they could never repay. Economist Herb Stein famously said that something that can’t go on forever, won’t. In the case of American education, it couldn’t—and it didn’t.In The Education Apocalypse, Glenn Harlan Reynolds explains how American education as we knew it collapsed – and how we can all benefit from unprecedented power and freedom in the aftermath. From the advent of online education to the rebirth of forgotten alternatives like apprenticeships, Reynolds shows students, parents, and educators how—beyond merely surviving the fallout—they can rethink and rebuild American education from the ground up.
Economist Herb Stein famously said that something that can't go on forever, won't. For decades now, America has been putting ever-growing amounts of money into its K-12 education system, while getting steadily poorer results. Now parents are losing faith in public schools, new alternatives are appearing, and change is on the way. The K-12 Implosion provides a succinct description of what's wrong, and where the solutions are likely to appear, along with advice for parents, educators, and taxpayers.
The terms “Front-Row Kids” and “Back-Row Kids,” coined by the photographer Chris Arnade, describe the divide between the educated upper middle class, who are staying ahead in today’s economy, and the less educated working class, who are doing poorly. The differences in education—and the values associated with elite schooling—have produced a divide in America that is on a par with that of race. The judiciary, requiring a postgraduate degree, is the one branch of government that is reserved for the Front-Row Kids. Correspondingly, since the Warren era, the Supreme Court has basically served as an engine for vindicating Front-Row preferences, from allowing birth control and abortion, to marginalizing religion in the public space, to legislative apportionment and libel law, and beyond. Professor Glenn Reynolds describes this problem in detail and offers some suggestions for making things better.