Rick Hess and Mike McShane are two of the smartest—and, more important, wisest—experts on education we have. Ready with compelling ideas and clear prose, they are the teachers we need right now.
—Ramesh Ponnuru, editor, National Review; nonresident senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute
For many years a few of us have urged fellow conservatives to get involved in The Great American Education Debate. If they do, this book will help them be prepared; it is rich in history, fact, and perspective.
—William Bennett, former US secretary of education
I disagree with Hess and McShane most days of the week, but what a splendid book this is: sweeping in scope, breezily written, and laced with humor. The authors decimate flabby educational thinking on all sides, then advance a provocative agenda grounded in clearly articulated first principles. No matter your political persuasion, you will learn a great deal from Getting Education Right and be better positioned to help tackle one of America’s most important challenges.
—Richard D. Kahlenberg, senior fellow, the Progressive Policy Institute; author, Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy
American education is in crisis. This is not news. Conservatives have cohesive solutions to the myriad challenges American education faces. This is news that has not been widely reported. We need to be far more assertive in sharing our vision for America’s students, and Mike and Rick do just that in this important volume full of ideas that, if implemented, would dramatically improve the outcomes and experiences of American students.
—Betsy DeVos, former US secretary of education
Conservatives are very clear about what we are against these days, but much too vague about what we’re for. In this superb, engaging book, Frederick Hess and Michael McShane offer a comprehensive, positive conservative vision for education. It is essential reading not only for anyone interested in education, but for anyone who wants to see a conservatism that takes the country’s future seriously.
—Yuval Levin, editor in chief, National Affairs; director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, American Enterprise Institute; and author, A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream
Hess and McShane have written a valuable, even wise, book. In a time in which performative politics substitutes for reasoned argument, the authors offer instead a thoughtful, serious vision of education grounded in longstanding conservative principles but adapted to today’s realities. Although I come from a different part of the political spectrum, I found many of their arguments attentive to the complexities of human realities in ways that I think we all should pay attention to. Read this book!
—Jal Mehta, professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education; coauthor, In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School
In Getting Education Right, Rick Hess and Michael McShane make a strong case for a new approach to education that’s grounded in conservative principles. Their vision includes school choice and goes well beyond, proposing innovative reforms that will fundamentally improve America’s education system for the good of all students. This book is a must-read for policymakers, parents, and educators.
—Kim Reynolds, governor of Iowa
In sharp yet accessible prose, Hess and McShane explain why conservatives need to engage education policy with more than soundbites and outrage, but also why America needs conservatives to fix what has gone so terribly wrong with our education system. This superlative book is an antidote to the partisan bickering that makes serious deliberation and debate impossible. It offers a precise, comprehensive agenda for reviving our classrooms and enriching the lives of our young people.
—Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief and founder, The Dispatch; author, Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy
It will surprise approximately no one that I disagree with Hess and McShane on many, if not most, substantive points. But that’s precisely why I think this book is worth reading. Common schooling depends on common ground, which in turn is contingent upon us working through our differences in good faith. By clearly articulating a conservative vision for education—one that seeks transparency above point-scoring—Hess and McShane have opened up an opportunity for dialogue, debate, and deliberation.
—Jack Schneider, Dwight W. Allen Distinguished Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst; coauthor, A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School
What a breath of fresh air. At a time when our educational challenges and national polarization can feel stifling, Hess and McShane have sketched a principled, practical vision of how to do better by America's students and families. With historical perspective, good humor, and an abiding faith in the American project, they've penned a book that is as heartening as it is provocative. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.
—Margaret Spellings, former US secretary of education; director, Bipartisan Policy Center
In Getting Education Right: A Conservative Vision for Improving Early Childhood, K–12, and College, Frederick M. Hess and Michael Q. McShane argue that America has too long suffered from the absence of a robust, coherent, and principled conservative vision for educational improvement.
