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Richard Kahlenberg

Richard D. Kahlenberg is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and author of Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles over Schools, Unions, Race, and Democracy.

Recent Articles

The New Look of School Integration

A bad Supreme Court decision overturning race-based integration programs in Louisville, KY, and Seattle, WA, has produced a positive result. A new initiative in Louisville does something even better for children -- it integrates them by class.

Richard KahlenbergJun 02, 2008

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down racial-integration plans in Jefferson County (Louisville), Kentucky, and Seattle, Washington, last June, some feared the decisions spelled the end of America's commitment to Brown v. Board of Education. But last Wednesday the Jefferson County school board unanimously voted to adopt a new plan that emphasizes integration by socioeconomic status, which is more legally viable and educationally sound than integration based on race alone. The revised plan, which considers parental education and income levels in addition to race, may very well represent the future of school integration in the United States.

A World Without Teacher Unions?

Despite the myriad criticisms of teacher unions, their abolition would be a huge loss for supporters of public education -- and for the American labor movement as a whole.

Richard KahlenbergSep 03, 2007

For many, Labor Day marks the end of summer and a time to return to school; others see it as a day to contemplate the role of trade unions in American society. For one group in America -- leaders and members of teacher unions-- it represents both, but this Labor Day, they have little to celebrate.

Back to Class

Richard KahlenbergDec 17, 2006

The Children in Room E4: American Education on Trial by Susan Eaton (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 357 pages, $24.95)

The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol (Crown, 404 pages, $25.00)

The Charter School Dust-Up: Examining the Evidence on Enrollment and Achievement by Martin Carnoy, Rebecca Jacobsen, Lawrence Mishel, and Richard Rothstein (Economic Policy Institute/Teachers College Press, 186 pages, $16.95)

The Knowledge Deficit: Closing the Shocking Education Gap for American Children by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. (Houghton Mifflin, 169 pages, $22.00)

Schools of Hard Knocks

Richard KahlenbergApr 26, 2004

The fights over education -- school vouchers, the No Child Left Behind Act, affirmative action, and access to higher education -- resonate deeply with people because they are literally fights over the American dream. Americans used to be able to move up economically with a high-school degree and a blue-collar, unionized job, and their kids could enjoy decent public schools. Now, however, those who have little education are also likely to have little income, forcing them to live in neighborhoods where their children attend inferior schools.

Good Schools, Good Citizens

Richard KahlenbergMar 01, 2002

Making Good Citizens: Education and Civil Society

Edited by Diane Ravitch and Joseph P. Viteritti. Yale University Press, 358 pages, $35.00

The contentious debate over whether public funds should support private schools revolves around a central paradox: Most Americans believe that private schools do a somewhat better job of promoting academic achievement than public schools, but most Americans nevertheless like the idea of public education, as a means of improving democracy, social cohesion, and national unity.

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