What do you think?
Rate this book
Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education
Everyone High schoolers to graduate well-prepared for jobs. Improved STEM literacy. Greater achievement for inner-city children. Happiness for all children. So why are liberals spending billions of dollars working against those goals? In Race to the Bottom , Luke Rosiak uncovers the shocking reason why American education is Powerful special interest groups are using our kids as guinea pigs in vast ideological experiments. These groups’ initiatives aren’t focused on making children smarter—but on implementing a radical agenda, no matter the effect on academic standards. Nonprofits pump billions into initiatives meant to redress racial inequities. Rather than fixing the problem, districts with a big gap between white and black test scores hire consultants who claim the tests are meaningless because they are “racist.” These consultants’ judgments allow school districts to ignore their own failures—ultimately hurting minority students and perpetuating racism. That is just one example. Drawing on his years in investigative journalism, Rosiak did a deep dive into school files, financial records, and parents’ stories. What he found is that nonprofit influence has crept into the educational bureaucracy all over America. Corrupt school boards and quack diversity consultants abound. Teachers drawing government pay claim it’s unsafe to return to in-person school, but “double dip” teaching in-person private classes. And amid all this focus on money and equity, academic standards are crumbling, which hurts American kids in ways we’ll be suffering for decades. Race to the Bottom is the first comprehensive exposé of the way radical ideology and self-serving administrators are destroying academic quality in America’s K-12 schools. Rigorous and deeply-researched, this is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of our kids.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published March 8, 2022
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
April 19, 2022
Okay--wow--where do I even start? Author Luke Rosiak has an agenda. He is going to illustrate how the "radical Democrats" are out to destroy your children. His book is so blatantly partisan and biased, it truly makes me sad for a missed opportunity. What I mean is this: there is no doubt that some of the outrageous examples that are relayed throughout his book are just exactly as bad as they sound. Let's face it, there's a lot of messed up stuff that happens in the world of education--on both sides.
But the picture Rosiak paints is one of liberals run amok, out to destroy the country. If, for every example of political correctness expanded to insane and counter-productive proportions, he gave an example of children being given textbooks with bad science and revisionist history, I would have had a great deal more confidence in this book. As it is, everything was so nakedly one-sided, and often skewed, that I have to look at the entirety with extreme skepticism. For instance, at one point he gets into the whole mess of San Francisco housing initiatives, and his depiction of what activists are trying to accomplish (give people desperately needed affordable housing) as this huge racial thing is just wrong. But how is a reader in Boise supposed to know that?
Mr. Rosiak apparently lives in the DC area, so it is perhaps unsurprising that the school system I was educated in in the DC suburbs is sited frequently for it's excesses--both ideological and fiscal. He repeatedly cites the obscene fees paid to consultants, the inflated costs of initiatives. This is very believable. It's government. Is this news? And it's completely disingenuous to imply the excess is all on one side. Still, I was educated for free in one of the best public school systems in the United States. Montgomery County, Maryland is doing a lot right. Other school systems could learn from them.
There were plenty of examples of educators rigging the system to graduate unqualified students or inflate test scores in blue state inner cities. There were examples of naked self-interest. Yes, it's disgusting and corrupt. But I didn't see him looking to closely at the appalling educational outcomes in some of those red state rural environments. Or, in the cases when he did, it was still the Dems fault somehow.
I actually think there's a lot in this book that is true, that is bad, and that is worthy of discussion. But because of the extremely biased approach with which the material was presented, I just can't take any of it at face value. And don't even get me started on Critical Race Theory!
But the picture Rosiak paints is one of liberals run amok, out to destroy the country. If, for every example of political correctness expanded to insane and counter-productive proportions, he gave an example of children being given textbooks with bad science and revisionist history, I would have had a great deal more confidence in this book. As it is, everything was so nakedly one-sided, and often skewed, that I have to look at the entirety with extreme skepticism. For instance, at one point he gets into the whole mess of San Francisco housing initiatives, and his depiction of what activists are trying to accomplish (give people desperately needed affordable housing) as this huge racial thing is just wrong. But how is a reader in Boise supposed to know that?
Mr. Rosiak apparently lives in the DC area, so it is perhaps unsurprising that the school system I was educated in in the DC suburbs is sited frequently for it's excesses--both ideological and fiscal. He repeatedly cites the obscene fees paid to consultants, the inflated costs of initiatives. This is very believable. It's government. Is this news? And it's completely disingenuous to imply the excess is all on one side. Still, I was educated for free in one of the best public school systems in the United States. Montgomery County, Maryland is doing a lot right. Other school systems could learn from them.
There were plenty of examples of educators rigging the system to graduate unqualified students or inflate test scores in blue state inner cities. There were examples of naked self-interest. Yes, it's disgusting and corrupt. But I didn't see him looking to closely at the appalling educational outcomes in some of those red state rural environments. Or, in the cases when he did, it was still the Dems fault somehow.
I actually think there's a lot in this book that is true, that is bad, and that is worthy of discussion. But because of the extremely biased approach with which the material was presented, I just can't take any of it at face value. And don't even get me started on Critical Race Theory!
April 7, 2022
One merely has to look at Luke Rosiak’s previous book to know where he stands politically.
As for his new book, if you can get past that he—rather falsely—presents himself as an impartial, truth-seeking journalist, there is some good muckraking in “Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying Public Education”
Most interestingly, Rosiak exposes the kingpins of ‘diversity training,’ activists who somehow convince schools and workplaces to accept their finger-wagging services, usually while reaping handsome financial rewards. Apart from these graft-adjacent industries, Rosiak also highlights the pretzel-like contortions done by school districts to close the so-called “achievement gap.”
As a Democrat, there were parts of RttB that didn’t land for me… but there were also parts that did (I like the ‘bootleggers and Baptists’ explanation). Regardless of one’s beliefs, though, the most valid point Rosiak makes is that we ignore local politics at our peril. They may not be as sexy as national issues, but they often affect our actual lives much, much more.
As for his new book, if you can get past that he—rather falsely—presents himself as an impartial, truth-seeking journalist, there is some good muckraking in “Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying Public Education”
Most interestingly, Rosiak exposes the kingpins of ‘diversity training,’ activists who somehow convince schools and workplaces to accept their finger-wagging services, usually while reaping handsome financial rewards. Apart from these graft-adjacent industries, Rosiak also highlights the pretzel-like contortions done by school districts to close the so-called “achievement gap.”
As a Democrat, there were parts of RttB that didn’t land for me… but there were also parts that did (I like the ‘bootleggers and Baptists’ explanation). Regardless of one’s beliefs, though, the most valid point Rosiak makes is that we ignore local politics at our peril. They may not be as sexy as national issues, but they often affect our actual lives much, much more.
March 8, 2022
Nowadays, education is a hot topic. The clashes ensuing in schools across the country line the columns of widely-read newspapers. It can be difficult for readers to wholly understand the social, cultural, and political ideas at work. Rosiak’s book takes convoluted ideas and makes them accessible.
Luke Rosiak, the foremost investigative reporter focusing on education in the U.S., breaks down what has occurred behind the scenes; consulting firms pushing equity profiting immensely at the expense of genuine learning; administrators inflating data to cover their own paychecks; teachers unions putting their own interests in front of children; parents being belittled for daring to care about curricula; and more.
This book, like other prominent commentators and writers have suggested, is an “indictment” of the American education system. It offers story after story, communicating to the reader how big government and big business, endlessly infatuated with their own self-serving goals, have stood to collude to push their own agenda. This agenda, unfortunately, has led to the decline of math and reading – and assisted teachers and administrators to receive higher wages for work that deserves no applause in a healthy country.
But this is the point of Rosiak’s book. The K-12 system is operating in an unhealthy way – an unsustainable way. The book is comprehensive – putting quantifiable evidence at the forefront of explaining the politicization of education. If there is any silver lining to this reporting, it is that the problems have largely been identified, and it is up to legislators to enact direct changes to protect vulnerable children at the mercy of a bloated bureaucratic state.
As an intern for Luke at The Daily Wire, I've seen firsthand behind the scenes his efforts to expose corruption and fraud at the highest levels. What this book does is push the conversation forward surrounding education today – and poke everyday Americans to consider the possibility they are being led by opportunists who recognize the power of language distortion. Read the book to gain a much-needed perspective on the state of American education; to understand the many stories across the U.S. that, often, are interconnected in a salute to a disturbing postmodern agenda that is not championing students and parents: but rather an educational deep-state.
Like Rosiak’s other book “Obstruction of Justice: How the Deep State Risked National Security to Protect the Democrats,” there is no happy ending. But perhaps there could be – as all of the complexities he outlines continue to occur on a daily basis – should Americans gain a foundational awareness about these issues.
These issues are not going away, not now at least, but this book provides a blueprint for what you should know.
Luke Rosiak, the foremost investigative reporter focusing on education in the U.S., breaks down what has occurred behind the scenes; consulting firms pushing equity profiting immensely at the expense of genuine learning; administrators inflating data to cover their own paychecks; teachers unions putting their own interests in front of children; parents being belittled for daring to care about curricula; and more.
This book, like other prominent commentators and writers have suggested, is an “indictment” of the American education system. It offers story after story, communicating to the reader how big government and big business, endlessly infatuated with their own self-serving goals, have stood to collude to push their own agenda. This agenda, unfortunately, has led to the decline of math and reading – and assisted teachers and administrators to receive higher wages for work that deserves no applause in a healthy country.
But this is the point of Rosiak’s book. The K-12 system is operating in an unhealthy way – an unsustainable way. The book is comprehensive – putting quantifiable evidence at the forefront of explaining the politicization of education. If there is any silver lining to this reporting, it is that the problems have largely been identified, and it is up to legislators to enact direct changes to protect vulnerable children at the mercy of a bloated bureaucratic state.
As an intern for Luke at The Daily Wire, I've seen firsthand behind the scenes his efforts to expose corruption and fraud at the highest levels. What this book does is push the conversation forward surrounding education today – and poke everyday Americans to consider the possibility they are being led by opportunists who recognize the power of language distortion. Read the book to gain a much-needed perspective on the state of American education; to understand the many stories across the U.S. that, often, are interconnected in a salute to a disturbing postmodern agenda that is not championing students and parents: but rather an educational deep-state.
Like Rosiak’s other book “Obstruction of Justice: How the Deep State Risked National Security to Protect the Democrats,” there is no happy ending. But perhaps there could be – as all of the complexities he outlines continue to occur on a daily basis – should Americans gain a foundational awareness about these issues.
These issues are not going away, not now at least, but this book provides a blueprint for what you should know.
July 29, 2022
Man, oh man, if this book had some valid points, I couldn’t get far enough to hear them out. After listening to the book for about 30 minutes, I knew I couldn’t get through it. It’s one thing to share a perspective, but it’s another to have an agenda so fierce and biased, that the meaning and purpose of the book are self-sabotaged in the first 40 pages.
Right at the beginning, the author criticized teachers for their lack of care and compassion when the pandemic hit. He argued that teachers did not want to go back, weren’t willing to do their jobs while teaching online school, and that they selfishly sat at home protesting the return to school while students struggled to do online school. As a new teacher whose first year of teaching school was during the online pandemic year, this could not be further from the truth. The truth is, the decision of when and how to return school was difficult and complicated. There were many teachers who were eager to return, and many who were hesitant for whatever reason. Whatever the opinion of the individual on how and when to return to the classroom, teachers were not uninterested in helping students during the pandemic. It was an incredibly difficult time for all people, students and teachers alike. However, instead of understanding that perhaps the majority of teachers were doing their best and truly wished and hoped for better circumstances, he degraded teachers and instead gave employees with the position title of “monitors” (or more commonly known as TAs) the benefit of the doubt by saying that “for 15 dollars an hour, monitors were willing to do what teachers were not.” It was hard to read a book written by a person who so clearly has a vendetta against —and not to mention a very misinformed idea as to how much control teachers had about in-person versus online teaching— people who were simply doing their best with the circumstances they were given.
There was a remark about the danger of teacher unions (???), then a claim made that teachers were making parents responsible for their child’s learning (uh… they are?), and factually incorrect information about the roll out and administration of the vaccine. All in the first 30 minutes of the audiobook!
An author who wants to be listened to needs to earn the respect of the reader. He lost mine very quickly with his misinformation and very incorrect and insulting assumptions about the people who I believe to be the backbone of the nation. Instead, he was divisive and overly simplistic, coming up with illogical and irrational bottom lines.
This book reminded me of a quote I recently came across by H. L. Mencken, “For every complex problem, there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
Rosiak’s book title seemed promising and informative, and the book itself may have had a few good points further within it, but I wouldn’t know it because he was just too damn obnoxious.
Right at the beginning, the author criticized teachers for their lack of care and compassion when the pandemic hit. He argued that teachers did not want to go back, weren’t willing to do their jobs while teaching online school, and that they selfishly sat at home protesting the return to school while students struggled to do online school. As a new teacher whose first year of teaching school was during the online pandemic year, this could not be further from the truth. The truth is, the decision of when and how to return school was difficult and complicated. There were many teachers who were eager to return, and many who were hesitant for whatever reason. Whatever the opinion of the individual on how and when to return to the classroom, teachers were not uninterested in helping students during the pandemic. It was an incredibly difficult time for all people, students and teachers alike. However, instead of understanding that perhaps the majority of teachers were doing their best and truly wished and hoped for better circumstances, he degraded teachers and instead gave employees with the position title of “monitors” (or more commonly known as TAs) the benefit of the doubt by saying that “for 15 dollars an hour, monitors were willing to do what teachers were not.” It was hard to read a book written by a person who so clearly has a vendetta against —and not to mention a very misinformed idea as to how much control teachers had about in-person versus online teaching— people who were simply doing their best with the circumstances they were given.
There was a remark about the danger of teacher unions (???), then a claim made that teachers were making parents responsible for their child’s learning (uh… they are?), and factually incorrect information about the roll out and administration of the vaccine. All in the first 30 minutes of the audiobook!
An author who wants to be listened to needs to earn the respect of the reader. He lost mine very quickly with his misinformation and very incorrect and insulting assumptions about the people who I believe to be the backbone of the nation. Instead, he was divisive and overly simplistic, coming up with illogical and irrational bottom lines.
This book reminded me of a quote I recently came across by H. L. Mencken, “For every complex problem, there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
Rosiak’s book title seemed promising and informative, and the book itself may have had a few good points further within it, but I wouldn’t know it because he was just too damn obnoxious.
March 14, 2022
Every parent in America should read this book and open their eyes to the corruption found in many local school districts. The stories of deceit, neglect and downright contempt for educating children found in this book are terrifying. The foundations behind the push for progressive educational reforms need to be exposed to the light of day for what they really are. The public education system I. This country is broken, this book maps out why. A must read!
March 29, 2022
The most thought provoking book about education for our kids. I dare any teacher, politician or other woke human being to read it. Parents...get a copy, read it and then get your kids out of public school. Join the now millions that understand our educational system is nothing but a scam. I knew it all along but Rosiak brings it all together along with the receipts. A must read.
May 9, 2022
If you want someone to take action against a flawed education system, this is not the way to do it. Finger pointing, biased opinions and a political angle is not in the best interest of our nation or our children.
March 29, 2022
If you are antiracist/non-xenophobic, do not waste your time buying this book! The author is a typical right-wing nut!!!!
June 28, 2022
Let's start with a few tidbits:
"And so if you know 2+2=4, one way you can express your knowing is by writing it. Another way you can express your knowing is by discussing it. A third way is by creating a model that shows it. A fourth way is by illustrating it and a fifth way is by performing a play. But in too many schools, only one way is considered legitimate. So if you write it, you get an A and that's it. There might be 100 kids in the school who know 2+2=4, but if only two of those kids can write it, then only two of those kids will receive As. That is profoundly discriminatory" (ASCD).
"There is no achievement gap: teachers are just measuring the wrong things by asking minorities to demonstrate competencies like the ability to add. Any time schools teach minority children skills required of productive members of society, they 'serve to indoctrinate minorities into the dominant culture so they can further serve the reproduction of their current roles in society through entering the workforce' the document underlying NY State's official education policy says" (120).
Trillions of dollars have been spent to improve educational outcomes and so far, nothing has worked. Any educators' conference now focuses on social justice and DIRE (diversity, inclusion, race and equity) ideology (729 mentions at the AERA Conference), while reading and accountability receive 115 mentions (124).
Even if you send your own children to charter or private schools (which aren't much better and are sometimes far worse, I can confidently affirm through over 20 years of experience and touring well over 100), "When they grow up, they will live among those people [who did attend public schools], vote with them, and--given the academic results of today's public schools--likely be forced to financially support many of them" (257). The author's expressed intent was to focus on the imperative of paying close attention to local politics and school board meetings. There is far more going on at the local level that will directly affect you.
What to watch for:
• Find out who is really behind what appear to be grassroots efforts but are really "astroturf" screens for established and well-organized political groups and organizations that deliberately seek to camouflage their support.
• Follow the money and ask cui bono? Taxpayer money should not be used to lobby. What real estate developers will benefit from redistricting public schools? Who stands to benefit financially from consulting? Do not trust an institution on the basis of name recognition or prestige. The University of Southern California has outsized influence to truly change the purpose of education to activism, distorts data and issues pseudo-academic papers that become the basis for legislation and policy.
• Consider whether the school is promoting as the purpose of education the free exchange of ideas to increase knowledge and understanding, the use of evidence for reasoned debate, and respect for viewpoint diversity or indoctrination in the DIRE (diversity, inclusion, race and equity) ideology hostile to reason, falsification, disconfirmation, and disagreement of any kind--even dismissing staff who don't "buy in."
• Consider whether the school is communicating more about "the joy of reading, of learning, of independent thinking, of curiosity, of discovering math and science" (67) or the emotionally manipulative triggers of DIRE terms like the baseless concept of "implicit bias." Consider how terms like "unequal outcomes" are being used to manipulate. What is the rationale for centering race? Why is this ideology being promulgated and enforced with an iron fist? Are higher test scores the priority or equally low ones? The easiest and surest way to guarantee equal outcomes is to bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator.
• Consider that different academic, financial, or other outcomes or representation between Blacks and White do not necessarily indicate racism, discrimination, or "culturally insensitive teaching practices." The American Time Use Survey indicates the hours of homework performed by each of the usual groupings: Asians: 2, White: <1, Hispanics a bit less, Blacks nearly 1/2 hour. Brookings found that they spent the time on leisure activities. Asians spend 4x as much time on their homework compared to other groups. Don't we want to teach the correlation between work and success? Many race hucksters justify their exorbitant fees by creating problems. Some even state that the emphasis on getting the correct answer, perfectionism, punctuality, etc. are all marks of white culture. Hence, authentic anti-racist practice will not use hip hop to teach mathematics, because that only "serve to indoctrinate minorities into the dominant culture" (170). Instead, it will teach hip hop for its cultural value to the exclusion of mathematics, an inherently racist field.
• Find out if the school board enforces and supports or ignores the results of surveys of the population, and who is in control of the surveys and view them. (I worked for organizations that deliberately misrepresented the survey results). Boards of all kinds often function as personal fiefdoms and means of compensating for dissatisfactions of all kinds. Bullying of members is common.
• Critically attend to what the numbers and statistics mean. Lies, damn lies and statistics. If the graduation rate has improved dramatically, what are the other possible explanations beyond those presented?
In my district in Florida, teachers actually earn more for awarding more As and Bs; it sound incredible, but I checked it; it's a fact. It increases the graduation rate.
Were students' evaluation procedures changed to less objective measures or an analog of Standards-Based Assessment, (in which what was an F is now a C+)? Was the standardized exit/entrance exam eliminated? In many, many districts across the USA, parents complain that their students earn As but do not pass the standardized assessment; some say their kids "is just bad at test taking." Nonsense. In every other country, in the interest of fairness, a single sitting at a standardized test determines students' future. Only in the USA is this perceived as unfair. Poor Asians outscore the wealthiest of other groups.
• Critically examine the claims, methodology and conclusions of any study that is presented. Even peer-reviewed studies that are the basis of state and federal education policies have jaw-dropping errors in both methodology and analysis.
• Understand that mergers and centralization of municipalities and suburbs makes larger areas easier to control (Los Angeles County, 1 vs. Pittsburgh, 130).
• Question the petition for more money "to improve performance." Enormous expenditures of billions in places like D.C. and Baltimore have actually resulted in diminished academic performance.
Not from Rosiak, but apropos and worthwhile:
Keep in mind at all times the work of Dr. Edwin Friedman, who wrote that effective leadership will be prevented when organizations (even families), "allow the most dependent, most easily hurt members of any organization to effectively ‘set the agenda’…and promote an attitude of adaptation toward immaturity rather than one of responsibility, effectively shifting power to the recalcitrant, the complainers, the passive-aggressive, and the most anxious members of an institution rather than the energetic, the visionary, the imaginative, and the most creatively motivated.
The invasive and destructive nature of these toxic forces is like a cancer or un-self-regulating pathogen, asserts Friedman, and as such, can only be dealt with by taking a stand, i.e. limiting “a toxic agent’s invasiveness” and not through “reasonableness, love, insight, role modeling,…and striving for consensus.”
Alas, taking a stand is the least common way of dealing with such members in our schools, and when a leader does so, stakeholders, often including trustees, tend to reactively sabotage. It is easier to join with others who are similarly anxious to displace blame, seek quick fixes, gather more information (e.g. hire a consultant), escalate victimization and indulge in emotion rather than take responsibility. These “counterrevolutionary characteristics” reinforce the stagnation in our schools.
Schools are on what Friedman describes as a treadmill, holding fast to the notion that all would be well…if we only cede territory to these invasive carcinogens and give them what they want. This is a grave error. Instead, stand up to them and say clearly, "NO."
The enormous surprise in this book is the power and reach of the foundation/NGO-ocracy. If you haven't given much thought before to this particular subtype of kleptocracy, you will once you reach chapter 11, continuing through the rest of the book. In the 1950s(!), Congress set out "'to investigate tax-exempt foundations and comparable organizations,' noting that because foundations and their donors received massive tax breaks, the government was in effect subsidizing them. The peril of the Ford Foundation using American society as its plaything is that 'its errors can be huge errors, gigantic in impact," said Rene A. Wormser in 1958....'A more tight and monopolistic control of great wealth....unchecked by the people...influence our society very materially'" (180). They have guidebooks and use Saul Alinksy's Rules for Radicals to train people to take over school boards and exercise influence on local levels. "These rogue foundations are perhaps the most radical, powerful, and least understood force in American politics. And their aspirations go far beyond the outcome of the election" (169).
This book desperately needed an index so one can look up any foundation and its [mis]deeds. It's not just Gates. It's Carnegie, Ford, Kellogg, Casey, Soros, Andrus/Surdna, MacArthur. It's the NEA and AFT. They strive to "hide their outsize power and manufacture the illusion of organic consensus around an issue where there was none" (190). They "pursue the only challenge left for people with endless ambition and billions of dollars" social engineering. The Ford Foundation came to see itself as the 'research and development arm of society'...with a fixation on race" that started with eugenics (179). Having been involved with many nonprofits, I affirm Rosiak's revelations and warn you about leaving your money in a trust or to a foundation. It is very unlikely to be used in the way that you stipulate. When I pointed out the unethical behavior, I was told I didn't understand how nonprofits work. I guess not.
I have applied for over 1,000 jobs at this writing. I was shocked and dismayed (as well as deeply grateful) to read about so many of the schools and foundations to which I applied multiple times. Rosiak exposes them as fraudsters, adding to transcripts courses never taken, falsifying attendance and academic records, seating students in front of computers with multiple choice questions they just "keep clicking till they got it right" (20), and charging districts at inflated rates, all in the name of "dismantling inequitable systems that privilege whites." Evidently, I dodged many bullets.
I defy anyone to read every single word of this book; it lends itself to skimming. This book is too long by at least one-third, far too detailed with too many examples, and desperately needed an index. It was heavily weighted toward the Greater Metropolitan D.C. area and NYC. There was absolutely nothing about rural issues in education. The last third of the book had very little to do with education and was about policy in general, particularly issues of development, like the attempt to create greater population density in the suburbs. I think this summary covers the major issues. Save yourself a read unless you want the gory and salacious geographically-specific details.
"And so if you know 2+2=4, one way you can express your knowing is by writing it. Another way you can express your knowing is by discussing it. A third way is by creating a model that shows it. A fourth way is by illustrating it and a fifth way is by performing a play. But in too many schools, only one way is considered legitimate. So if you write it, you get an A and that's it. There might be 100 kids in the school who know 2+2=4, but if only two of those kids can write it, then only two of those kids will receive As. That is profoundly discriminatory" (ASCD).
"There is no achievement gap: teachers are just measuring the wrong things by asking minorities to demonstrate competencies like the ability to add. Any time schools teach minority children skills required of productive members of society, they 'serve to indoctrinate minorities into the dominant culture so they can further serve the reproduction of their current roles in society through entering the workforce' the document underlying NY State's official education policy says" (120).
Trillions of dollars have been spent to improve educational outcomes and so far, nothing has worked. Any educators' conference now focuses on social justice and DIRE (diversity, inclusion, race and equity) ideology (729 mentions at the AERA Conference), while reading and accountability receive 115 mentions (124).
Even if you send your own children to charter or private schools (which aren't much better and are sometimes far worse, I can confidently affirm through over 20 years of experience and touring well over 100), "When they grow up, they will live among those people [who did attend public schools], vote with them, and--given the academic results of today's public schools--likely be forced to financially support many of them" (257). The author's expressed intent was to focus on the imperative of paying close attention to local politics and school board meetings. There is far more going on at the local level that will directly affect you.
What to watch for:
• Find out who is really behind what appear to be grassroots efforts but are really "astroturf" screens for established and well-organized political groups and organizations that deliberately seek to camouflage their support.
• Follow the money and ask cui bono? Taxpayer money should not be used to lobby. What real estate developers will benefit from redistricting public schools? Who stands to benefit financially from consulting? Do not trust an institution on the basis of name recognition or prestige. The University of Southern California has outsized influence to truly change the purpose of education to activism, distorts data and issues pseudo-academic papers that become the basis for legislation and policy.
• Consider whether the school is promoting as the purpose of education the free exchange of ideas to increase knowledge and understanding, the use of evidence for reasoned debate, and respect for viewpoint diversity or indoctrination in the DIRE (diversity, inclusion, race and equity) ideology hostile to reason, falsification, disconfirmation, and disagreement of any kind--even dismissing staff who don't "buy in."
• Consider whether the school is communicating more about "the joy of reading, of learning, of independent thinking, of curiosity, of discovering math and science" (67) or the emotionally manipulative triggers of DIRE terms like the baseless concept of "implicit bias." Consider how terms like "unequal outcomes" are being used to manipulate. What is the rationale for centering race? Why is this ideology being promulgated and enforced with an iron fist? Are higher test scores the priority or equally low ones? The easiest and surest way to guarantee equal outcomes is to bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator.
• Consider that different academic, financial, or other outcomes or representation between Blacks and White do not necessarily indicate racism, discrimination, or "culturally insensitive teaching practices." The American Time Use Survey indicates the hours of homework performed by each of the usual groupings: Asians: 2, White: <1, Hispanics a bit less, Blacks nearly 1/2 hour. Brookings found that they spent the time on leisure activities. Asians spend 4x as much time on their homework compared to other groups. Don't we want to teach the correlation between work and success? Many race hucksters justify their exorbitant fees by creating problems. Some even state that the emphasis on getting the correct answer, perfectionism, punctuality, etc. are all marks of white culture. Hence, authentic anti-racist practice will not use hip hop to teach mathematics, because that only "serve to indoctrinate minorities into the dominant culture" (170). Instead, it will teach hip hop for its cultural value to the exclusion of mathematics, an inherently racist field.
• Find out if the school board enforces and supports or ignores the results of surveys of the population, and who is in control of the surveys and view them. (I worked for organizations that deliberately misrepresented the survey results). Boards of all kinds often function as personal fiefdoms and means of compensating for dissatisfactions of all kinds. Bullying of members is common.
• Critically attend to what the numbers and statistics mean. Lies, damn lies and statistics. If the graduation rate has improved dramatically, what are the other possible explanations beyond those presented?
In my district in Florida, teachers actually earn more for awarding more As and Bs; it sound incredible, but I checked it; it's a fact. It increases the graduation rate.
Were students' evaluation procedures changed to less objective measures or an analog of Standards-Based Assessment, (in which what was an F is now a C+)? Was the standardized exit/entrance exam eliminated? In many, many districts across the USA, parents complain that their students earn As but do not pass the standardized assessment; some say their kids "is just bad at test taking." Nonsense. In every other country, in the interest of fairness, a single sitting at a standardized test determines students' future. Only in the USA is this perceived as unfair. Poor Asians outscore the wealthiest of other groups.
• Critically examine the claims, methodology and conclusions of any study that is presented. Even peer-reviewed studies that are the basis of state and federal education policies have jaw-dropping errors in both methodology and analysis.
• Understand that mergers and centralization of municipalities and suburbs makes larger areas easier to control (Los Angeles County, 1 vs. Pittsburgh, 130).
• Question the petition for more money "to improve performance." Enormous expenditures of billions in places like D.C. and Baltimore have actually resulted in diminished academic performance.
Not from Rosiak, but apropos and worthwhile:
Keep in mind at all times the work of Dr. Edwin Friedman, who wrote that effective leadership will be prevented when organizations (even families), "allow the most dependent, most easily hurt members of any organization to effectively ‘set the agenda’…and promote an attitude of adaptation toward immaturity rather than one of responsibility, effectively shifting power to the recalcitrant, the complainers, the passive-aggressive, and the most anxious members of an institution rather than the energetic, the visionary, the imaginative, and the most creatively motivated.
The invasive and destructive nature of these toxic forces is like a cancer or un-self-regulating pathogen, asserts Friedman, and as such, can only be dealt with by taking a stand, i.e. limiting “a toxic agent’s invasiveness” and not through “reasonableness, love, insight, role modeling,…and striving for consensus.”
Alas, taking a stand is the least common way of dealing with such members in our schools, and when a leader does so, stakeholders, often including trustees, tend to reactively sabotage. It is easier to join with others who are similarly anxious to displace blame, seek quick fixes, gather more information (e.g. hire a consultant), escalate victimization and indulge in emotion rather than take responsibility. These “counterrevolutionary characteristics” reinforce the stagnation in our schools.
Schools are on what Friedman describes as a treadmill, holding fast to the notion that all would be well…if we only cede territory to these invasive carcinogens and give them what they want. This is a grave error. Instead, stand up to them and say clearly, "NO."
The enormous surprise in this book is the power and reach of the foundation/NGO-ocracy. If you haven't given much thought before to this particular subtype of kleptocracy, you will once you reach chapter 11, continuing through the rest of the book. In the 1950s(!), Congress set out "'to investigate tax-exempt foundations and comparable organizations,' noting that because foundations and their donors received massive tax breaks, the government was in effect subsidizing them. The peril of the Ford Foundation using American society as its plaything is that 'its errors can be huge errors, gigantic in impact," said Rene A. Wormser in 1958....'A more tight and monopolistic control of great wealth....unchecked by the people...influence our society very materially'" (180). They have guidebooks and use Saul Alinksy's Rules for Radicals to train people to take over school boards and exercise influence on local levels. "These rogue foundations are perhaps the most radical, powerful, and least understood force in American politics. And their aspirations go far beyond the outcome of the election" (169).
This book desperately needed an index so one can look up any foundation and its [mis]deeds. It's not just Gates. It's Carnegie, Ford, Kellogg, Casey, Soros, Andrus/Surdna, MacArthur. It's the NEA and AFT. They strive to "hide their outsize power and manufacture the illusion of organic consensus around an issue where there was none" (190). They "pursue the only challenge left for people with endless ambition and billions of dollars" social engineering. The Ford Foundation came to see itself as the 'research and development arm of society'...with a fixation on race" that started with eugenics (179). Having been involved with many nonprofits, I affirm Rosiak's revelations and warn you about leaving your money in a trust or to a foundation. It is very unlikely to be used in the way that you stipulate. When I pointed out the unethical behavior, I was told I didn't understand how nonprofits work. I guess not.
I have applied for over 1,000 jobs at this writing. I was shocked and dismayed (as well as deeply grateful) to read about so many of the schools and foundations to which I applied multiple times. Rosiak exposes them as fraudsters, adding to transcripts courses never taken, falsifying attendance and academic records, seating students in front of computers with multiple choice questions they just "keep clicking till they got it right" (20), and charging districts at inflated rates, all in the name of "dismantling inequitable systems that privilege whites." Evidently, I dodged many bullets.
I defy anyone to read every single word of this book; it lends itself to skimming. This book is too long by at least one-third, far too detailed with too many examples, and desperately needed an index. It was heavily weighted toward the Greater Metropolitan D.C. area and NYC. There was absolutely nothing about rural issues in education. The last third of the book had very little to do with education and was about policy in general, particularly issues of development, like the attempt to create greater population density in the suburbs. I think this summary covers the major issues. Save yourself a read unless you want the gory and salacious geographically-specific details.
October 15, 2022
A blatant boogie man conjuring game of identity politics that creates its own culture based around a few buzzwords but offers little to no evidence, or just straight lies to back up its claims.
Anytime you here CRT being critiqued without the mentioning the years of American schools avoiding historical events likes Tulsa, Philly bombings, slavery etc then you know you’re in grifter territory where the object of the game is to get you to hate something without telling you in full what you’re actually hating.
The parts around school and teacher findings are laughable and a quick google search debunks all claims made by Rosiak.
Anytime you here CRT being critiqued without the mentioning the years of American schools avoiding historical events likes Tulsa, Philly bombings, slavery etc then you know you’re in grifter territory where the object of the game is to get you to hate something without telling you in full what you’re actually hating.
The parts around school and teacher findings are laughable and a quick google search debunks all claims made by Rosiak.
June 6, 2022
This book is marketed as a well researched journalistic exposé of the American public education system when in reality, it failed at being impartial. While the author has valid points at times, they are sandwiched with over exaggerated or unrelated details. A clearly partisan account filled with false equivalence that I found it difficult to read at times. All in all, my main takeaway is to stay engaged in local politics as they affect your daily life drastically.
April 14, 2022
Even if you do not have children in public school, you need to read this book.
April 29, 2023
This was what journalism ought to be all about, and we have gotten far too little of it of late. Sadly, a significant chunk of Rosiak's narrative was formed from actions taken here in Northern Virginia in both Fairfax and Loudoun counties. When it is all mashed together in this form it ought almost make one's skin crawl - we are watching the tearing down of any semblance of meritocracy in education that might have been remaining. The intentionality of these perpetrators borders on stunning.
July 2022 - This book needs to be in the hands of all Virginia legislators!
April '23 - There must be a reckoning in cleaning out the stalls of education. I am a tiny bit encouraged by what I sense coming out of Britain and Scandinavia concerning the mutilation of children on the alter of the sex industry - which is a good deal of where the motivations for Rosiak's work have their roots. The motivations of developers and critical theory panderers, who lean on school boards, for spending megabucks for their favorite schemes have to be understood to realize how insidious this all it. It is still going on here in Fairfax and I pray we may clean out a couple FCPS board members in the next election.
July 2022 - This book needs to be in the hands of all Virginia legislators!
April '23 - There must be a reckoning in cleaning out the stalls of education. I am a tiny bit encouraged by what I sense coming out of Britain and Scandinavia concerning the mutilation of children on the alter of the sex industry - which is a good deal of where the motivations for Rosiak's work have their roots. The motivations of developers and critical theory panderers, who lean on school boards, for spending megabucks for their favorite schemes have to be understood to realize how insidious this all it. It is still going on here in Fairfax and I pray we may clean out a couple FCPS board members in the next election.
March 20, 2022
Loved the first 75%, filled as it was horror stories from America's public schools. The last fourth was a little more wonky as the author explained the relationship between developers and left-leaning local officials who are trying, according to the author, both to bring "equity" to schools and grow rich at the same time.
March 22, 2022
America needs to wake up and reject woke.
If you have children in school this is a major wake up call. If you think this is the canary in the coal mine, it's more like a pterodactyl on your front lawn.
If you have children in school this is a major wake up call. If you think this is the canary in the coal mine, it's more like a pterodactyl on your front lawn.
August 6, 2023
This was hard to get through, proof you can spin the data however you want but it's important to listen to other points of view.
If you take away one thing it is this: local politics matter, no matter which way you vote.
If you take away one thing it is this: local politics matter, no matter which way you vote.
April 8, 2022
In Race to the Bottom, Rosiak provides a well-researched, deep dive into the corruption that characterizes many of the public and private groups active in education. His well-documented and data-driven analysis exposes the nefarious relationships between teachers’ unions, school administrators, school boards, activists, nonprofits, and philanthropic foundations in their quest to supplant academic achievement with left-wing ideological purity. This ideology is expressed in various forms and uses various tools including hostility to objective tests, abuse of language (particularly the term “equity”), and government zoning practices oriented toward social engineering. Rosiak reveals the danger of these elements in a well-structured, and at times, humorous manner.
One weakness of the book is that Rosiak asserts local education is “perhaps the most important thing government does at any level” (p. 46). Accepting that government-provided education should be “the most important thing government does” is precisely where the problem lies. Prioritizing government schooling is largely responsible for the poor state of education (a point Rosiak fails to explicitly state though his book rests on this fact). Less government education is the answer, not simply government education with less left-wing influence. Private options that enable parents of various ideological persuasions to have immediate control over their children’s education are key to developing a decentralized educational system. Such a system will lead to increased social stability because the high stakes inherent in who controls government services are lessened or removed.
Overall, Race to the Bottom is an exceptional work that engaged citizens (especially parents) should read. I hope this work serves to awaken community members to what is occurring in large swaths of education. Rosiak ends the book with these powerful words: “For the sake of our kids’ happiness, for the sake of our constitutional republic, for the sake of a modern world fueled by scientific and technological advancement, we can never, ever go back to sleep.”
One weakness of the book is that Rosiak asserts local education is “perhaps the most important thing government does at any level” (p. 46). Accepting that government-provided education should be “the most important thing government does” is precisely where the problem lies. Prioritizing government schooling is largely responsible for the poor state of education (a point Rosiak fails to explicitly state though his book rests on this fact). Less government education is the answer, not simply government education with less left-wing influence. Private options that enable parents of various ideological persuasions to have immediate control over their children’s education are key to developing a decentralized educational system. Such a system will lead to increased social stability because the high stakes inherent in who controls government services are lessened or removed.
Overall, Race to the Bottom is an exceptional work that engaged citizens (especially parents) should read. I hope this work serves to awaken community members to what is occurring in large swaths of education. Rosiak ends the book with these powerful words: “For the sake of our kids’ happiness, for the sake of our constitutional republic, for the sake of a modern world fueled by scientific and technological advancement, we can never, ever go back to sleep.”
June 28, 2022
In this nonfiction book about American education and it's failures, author and investigative journalist Luke Rosiak exposes the well-funded, yet often secret, special interest groups and nonprofits spending billions of dollars not to improve education for our children, but to implement radical. liberal agendas. The evidence Rosiak gives in focused, in particular, with the Fairfax County Virginia school district, which is where the author lives. Rosiak gives well-documented and detailed accounts of how these special interest groups manipulated school boards to make decisions about student achievement, curriculum, and redistricting that clearly was not in the best interest of any students - minority or otherwise. The author focuses his expose on matters relating to Covid 19 school closures, Critical Race Theory, and redistricting to achieve "racial equity." This eye-opening account helped me to see that some things happening at the school district where I teach in conservative Utah, are also being impacted by these educational nonprofits set furthering their own political agendas. I suspect that there are also conservative nonprofits and special interests doing the same thing, but this book focuses on those leaning left. It is all very troubling, no matter which side of the political divide you come down on.
This final paragraph in the book, the author calls for all voters to see what is going on, and become more involved in politics on a local level, especially where education is concerned. Says Rosiak, "Massive secret forces are undermining American education in ways that will have consequences in all of our daily lives. But there is another group, wo due to apathy, mistaken priorities, or blind partisanship bears responsibility for an education collapse that has been decades in the making - it is us."
This was an interesting and enlightening book, although the details made it a bit tedious to listen to.
This final paragraph in the book, the author calls for all voters to see what is going on, and become more involved in politics on a local level, especially where education is concerned. Says Rosiak, "Massive secret forces are undermining American education in ways that will have consequences in all of our daily lives. But there is another group, wo due to apathy, mistaken priorities, or blind partisanship bears responsibility for an education collapse that has been decades in the making - it is us."
This was an interesting and enlightening book, although the details made it a bit tedious to listen to.
May 16, 2022
This book was so amazing and insightful. The author is direct and does not apologize for his views about the dumbing down of America. He provides various examples of how our standards keep dropping. Yet no one is horrified.
This reporter sounds the alarm loudly about how bureaucrats and unions are prohibiting our children from being properly educated. During the covid lockdown parents started seeing how the education system is indoctrinating our children. Maybe this will wake us all up. This investigation should be mandatory reading for everyone. You will lose sleep over his exemplary reporting. We joke that script is barely taught anymore and how kids can no longer read analog clocks. If this generation cannot attain goals set in the past to gain admittance to prestige schools, then just lower the standards. Looks like the real joke is on us only no one is laughing.
This reporter sounds the alarm loudly about how bureaucrats and unions are prohibiting our children from being properly educated. During the covid lockdown parents started seeing how the education system is indoctrinating our children. Maybe this will wake us all up. This investigation should be mandatory reading for everyone. You will lose sleep over his exemplary reporting. We joke that script is barely taught anymore and how kids can no longer read analog clocks. If this generation cannot attain goals set in the past to gain admittance to prestige schools, then just lower the standards. Looks like the real joke is on us only no one is laughing.
June 24, 2022
There were some interesting facts in this book and on many points, he wasn’t wrong. However, the book was very heavily skewed politically and that is off putting to me from the get go (even though we may share a political party). Any information given that is presented in a political manner carried less weight for me. It shouldn’t be us vs them. It should just be presentation of facts and let the readers decide. It would be helpful hearing pros from the conflicting point of view, but that’s not typically how these books are written. There is a MAJOR issue with public education right now and it starts and ends with politicians getting their filthy hands all over it. (On both sides) I was shocked to hear how schools in other parts of the country operate and it did make me glad that I live where I live and not in those states.
April 5, 2022
This is a must not only for parents, but every citizen. Wake up, Americans, to what has been happening to undermine education and local governments for years. The covid pandemic provided the accelerant for many changes, but also pulled the blinders off, as parents saw first-hand through online learning what has been going on in our schools. Outrageous.
April 29, 2022
This book helps you realize that we are way beyond public schools being a place to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. I am thankful we had the opportunity to homeschool our children. If you have children in public school, consider reading this book. Then start attending school board meetings to see what is happening in your local schools.
May 7, 2022
Important Book
I want to say that I liked this book, but how can I say that I liked something that almost made me want to at turns cry and throw up. However, this is a very important book with an extraordinarily urgent message: get involved in your local schools. Even if you think everything is okay, it probably isn’t.
I want to say that I liked this book, but how can I say that I liked something that almost made me want to at turns cry and throw up. However, this is a very important book with an extraordinarily urgent message: get involved in your local schools. Even if you think everything is okay, it probably isn’t.
May 3, 2022
Extremely well researched and full of disheartening info. I wish there was a bit more info on what can be done other than join the school board and home-school your kids, but that may be all that can be done at this time.
July 18, 2022
Well-researched, thoughtful look at the problems with public education.
November 28, 2022
Disconcerting?
Indeed.
Revealing about the sad state of why kids are politically active but don't know history, aren't proficient in math, science, civic workings of America but know well the Gender Unicorn? Yes.
Worth a read?
ABSOLUTELY
Every parent, grandparent, godparent needs not only to read this book but also needs to research all the names and organizations referenced.
Speaking as one who, for the last 5 years has traveled around America, over 40,000 miles visiting as many communities as possible in nearly every state, this book reveals the reality behind so much failure and too, the emotional problems our children are experiencing today. It is all related. The fact is, that the American Education Industry--lead by the Teachers Unions and non-profit consulting firms and their allies in media and government--have produced a generation of people unable to handle the realities of today much less what is needed for their own successful future and the nation's future. This is confirmed by the Federal Government recent testing data shown in "The National Report Card".
If nothing else, for those who refuse to see the problems that political activism and Critical Theory have introduced into schools, for those who don't understand the school board fights happening all across America from South Carolina, California, Virginia, Washington State, Maine this book will show the background of what is happening and why. When the Federal Government gets involved in what should be a local matter (the FBI) we know that something seriously off kilter is happening.
It is really that serious of a problem that cannot be ignored. We need competent engineers, biologists, mechanics, builders, surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, architects, energy developers, agricultural producers, communication technicians to maintain the present and create the future. But we are not producing them in the numbers needed. Instead, we are bound up with racial identities and disruption of society and assertions that morals are relative, truth is personal, virtues are flexible and STEM is racist . . . so on and so on.
Hopefully, after reading this book, those who don't want to face the issue will see much more clearly and stop protecting what is an absolute corruption of children's minds and school systems by those interested only in their own power and money grab.
Indeed.
Revealing about the sad state of why kids are politically active but don't know history, aren't proficient in math, science, civic workings of America but know well the Gender Unicorn? Yes.
Worth a read?
ABSOLUTELY
Every parent, grandparent, godparent needs not only to read this book but also needs to research all the names and organizations referenced.
Speaking as one who, for the last 5 years has traveled around America, over 40,000 miles visiting as many communities as possible in nearly every state, this book reveals the reality behind so much failure and too, the emotional problems our children are experiencing today. It is all related. The fact is, that the American Education Industry--lead by the Teachers Unions and non-profit consulting firms and their allies in media and government--have produced a generation of people unable to handle the realities of today much less what is needed for their own successful future and the nation's future. This is confirmed by the Federal Government recent testing data shown in "The National Report Card".
If nothing else, for those who refuse to see the problems that political activism and Critical Theory have introduced into schools, for those who don't understand the school board fights happening all across America from South Carolina, California, Virginia, Washington State, Maine this book will show the background of what is happening and why. When the Federal Government gets involved in what should be a local matter (the FBI) we know that something seriously off kilter is happening.
It is really that serious of a problem that cannot be ignored. We need competent engineers, biologists, mechanics, builders, surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, architects, energy developers, agricultural producers, communication technicians to maintain the present and create the future. But we are not producing them in the numbers needed. Instead, we are bound up with racial identities and disruption of society and assertions that morals are relative, truth is personal, virtues are flexible and STEM is racist . . . so on and so on.
Hopefully, after reading this book, those who don't want to face the issue will see much more clearly and stop protecting what is an absolute corruption of children's minds and school systems by those interested only in their own power and money grab.
December 5, 2022
An utterly damning look at the state of public education in our country. Nearly every turn of the page brought a new and frightening revelation. Luke Rosiak did incredible work, and will never get the recognition he deserves. I’m terrified for my children and for our country by extension. Much like Luke states in his epilogue, I’m no longer convinced the public school system is salvageable.
December 3, 2022
I grew up in the county that inspired this book. Thank God I got out when I did. Rosiak proves how critical school board races are, and how they affect constituents so much more than up-ballot politicians.
December 21, 2023
Race to the Bottom contains a great list of the aspects that have completely shifted the school system from what it was 30 years ago to today. I initially thought my former school had devolved to rubble with a corrupt school government and charges being pressed on the superintendent. The most engaging chapters were the rise of bootleg associations embezzling school funds and the COVID-19 pandemic's declining attendance and academic honesty percentages. Those percentages had also gone through lies and exploitation, and a district's statistics might not even reflect the true state of their schools.
June 27, 2022
I thought I knew a lot about the education system & what's going wrong. It's been my top concern for many years. I've been troubled with SEL & critical race theory & have seen unsettling things going on with both this year as a substitute. However, this book still opened my eyes completely to how much deeper the problem is. I feel like I've been on this path long enough, people have already concluded I'm a little crazy but to get all this information from somebody who's relatively new to the subject and had no major suspicions & no desire to be on this side until the facts were just too clear & overwhelming to ignore, is both refreshing & well worded. Having tried homeschooling, charter school, & other options, I've often said, "It doesn't cost anything to teach multiplication. It costs very little to teach reading. Why is there an unending cry for more money & more technology when teaching the fundamentals is free?" I've watched every kid in our school district transition into getting a Chromebook yet reading levels & math abilities have steadily declined. Teachers are not having kids pass off times tables anymore & the students are getting to jr. high, unable to multiply let alone do algebra. This helped me see why this problem came about & why it's unlikely to get solved, at least in public school. During our last local elections, there was a tax increase for education but none of that money will go towards giving any student a more efficient education or helping them be more proficient in a single subject. It's just lining the pockets of "progressives." I may be frustrated by what's going on but at least this book gave validation with words & astonishing facts. I wish this were required reading for every adult.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews