Overview

This illuminating book offers an extensive, expert analysis of a school system that bears the legacy, hallmarks, and consequences that lie at the intersection of race and education. Urban education scholar Camika Royal deftly analyzes decades of efforts aimed at improving school performance within the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), in a brisk survey spanning every SDP superintendency from the 1960s through 2017. Royal interrogates the history of education and educational reforms, recounting city, state, and federal interventions. Her survey provides sociopolitical context and rich groundwork for a nuanced examination of why many large urban districts struggle to implement reforms with fidelity and in ways that advance Black students academically and holistically. In a bracing critique, Royal bears witness to the ways in which positive public school reform has been obstructed: through racism and racial capitalism, but also via liberal ideals, neoliberal practices, and austerity tactics. Not Paved for Us highlights the experiences of Black educators as they navigate the racial and cultural politics of urban school reform.

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9798228668591

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Reviews

""Royal gives voice to the experiences of Black educators silenced by anti-Black systemic reform. Unadulterated and admonishing, this work serves as a signpost for those in the fight for educational equity...challenging us to stand in the conviction of our commitments toward antiracism."" -- ""Sabriya K. Jubilee, chief of equity, School District of Philadelphia"" ""This is a powerful book...It's essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the racial politics of school reform and the importance of Black educators and communities to leading the creation of real solutions."" -- ""Ken Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education emeritus, University of Washington, Seattle""

Author Information

For more than twenty years, Camika Royal has been an educator, teaching middle and high school, coaching teachers, and supporting urban school leaders in Baltimore City, Maryland, Washington, DC, and her hometown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Presently, she is an associate professor of urban education at Loyola University Maryland. Her research and teaching examine the racial, historical, and sociopolitical contexts of school reform ideologies, policies, and practices. She earned her bachelor of arts degree in English literature at North Carolina Central University, her master of arts in teaching degree at Johns Hopkins University, and her doctor of philosophy in urban education at Temple University. Not Paved for Us is her first book. H. Richard Milner IV is Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. Milner is a researcher, scholar, and leader of urban education and teacher education. Gloria Ladson-Billings is professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and president of the National Academy of Education. A professional singer, dancer, and actor, Carmen Jewel Jones has voiced commercial and industrial projects as well as numerous audiobooks. Her versatile voice brings to life characters in many genres of fiction. Carmen Jewel holds a BFA in theater arts from the University of Texas at Arlington.

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