ABSTRACT

Building a Learning Culture in America takes an incisive, no-holds-barred look at how America embraced and cultivated a culture of learning in the past, how that culture declined in the sixties and seventies, and what must be done to regain it. From political gridlock to systemic discrimination, Chavous details the many ways education today is off track, and cites specific examples of what Americans might do to reform it.Part memoir and part manifesto, this is a frank, fascinating, and personal account of Chavous' experience as a politician working to enact school choice in Washington, DC, and throughout the United States. During the course of his political career, he has seen political skirmishes and party scuffles interfere with the United States' ability to improve its educational system. These conflicts did not cause the problem; they were merely a result. The true problem was more basic: the decline of America's learning culture.This pivotal work calls for Americans to unite in making the changes needed to re-establish a learning culture as an inherent piece of the American national fabric, and tells us how to begin.

part 1|90 pages

The Politics of Reform—My Struggle for School Choice

chapter 1|6 pages

My Personal History of Learning

chapter 2|10 pages

A Look at Education in America

chapter 3|8 pages

A Nation at Risk: Then and Now

chapter 5|6 pages

Public Service in Our Nation’s Capital

chapter 6|8 pages

Heading Up the Education Committee

chapter 8|12 pages

School Vouchers in DC

chapter 10|8 pages

Glimmers of Hope

part 2|70 pages

Achieving Reform: Building a Learning Culture in America

chapter |4 pages

Introduction

chapter 11|6 pages

Establishing a New Brand of Nationalism

chapter 12|6 pages

Removing Politics

chapter 13|12 pages

All Children Can Learn

chapter 14|8 pages

Encouraging Education Activism

chapter 17|4 pages

Trusted Voices Championing the Cause

chapter 18|12 pages

Celebrating Models and Teachers That Work

part 3|26 pages

Some Success Stories

chapter |4 pages

Conclusion: Finding Hope