Chapter 1: Even More of the Same: How Free Market Capitalism Dominates Education

What was I thinking? Five years after Obama’s first inauguration I am reflecting on why I so poorly predicted Obama’s educational policies and how to explain the direction he took. I audaciously hoped that he would reverse Bush’s educational policies by pursuing policies that would decrease federal control over public schools, standardized testing and privatization. I also hoped that he would support teachers as professionals and increase research on teaching and learning. Instead, he has adopted and intensified the educational policies and practices of the Bush administration, by requiring more standardized testing, increasing the role of the tests in teacher accountability, and promoting more charter schools.