ABSTRACT
The public interest aspect of education research is linked to the increasing public involvement in education. Since the Brown v. Board of Education decisions, it has been clear that there is a national interest in education. The release of A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform by the National Commission on Excellence in Education set the direction for education reform. The response to the alarm that education was failing on all fronts was to raise the bar and depend primarily on standardized assessments to measure academic progress. During the first term of the George W. Bush administration, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was due for reauthorization. Education clearly was not working for those in New Orleans who depended on public schools. It was not working long before the streets were flooded and the roofs were blown away. Limiting education is just one of the ways to create second-class citizenship.
