ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the resisting efforts to dismantle education as a public good; reclaiming a vision for education grounded in participatory democracy, equality, and justice; and revolutionizing how education leadership is conceptualized, practiced, and sustained. A critical policy approach to pursuing the possibilities of democratic education requires familiarity with the policy landscape, political climate, and various sources of power in terms of funding, policymaking, and accountability, both private and public. The history of education leadership in America is filled with many impressive and courageous figures who engaged in acts of resistance, reimagining, and revolutionary thinking in order to disrupt and/or transform systems of schooling in powerful and important ways. Global comparisons of countries that have adopted a public investment strategy in education with those that have chosen markets and metrics demonstrate that a public investment strategy achieves higher overall achievement and greater equity of outcomes.
