Save Our Schools ... and America too

The book presents a well-researched, actionable and scalable plan for accomplishing two goals:
   
   1. To fix America's K-12 public school system so that it delivers 21st-century skills and enables all students, regardless of demography, to discover and develop their meaningful talents throughout their lifetimes.
   
   2. To use the redesigned school system as the linchpin for changing America for the better.
   
   As an individual committed to social justice and the future of America and its young people, author Stephen Weintraub realized four important things when he became a teacher in a diverse school following 25 years in corporate America.
   
   1. U.S. schools are at a crossroads.
   
   • 52% of students live in poverty, with most failing academically. There is an ocean-sized disparity between their performance and quality of life opportunities versus wealthier students.
   
   • Engagement is exceedingly low among all high school students, as they see no relevance in the outdated course offerings which have been unchanged for 125 years. Experts agree with them.
   
   2. Misdirections abound and continue to waste time, money and brainpower as special interest groups (some well-meaning, some not) have mis-identified the issues and solutions for too long.
   
   3. Half of America’s youth is staggeringly unhappy, anxious, and depressed … reflecting the detachment and stress of society at large – and school not only doesn’t address this, it exacerbates it.
   
   4. America is also at a crossroads, deeply divided, with a multi-dimensional demographic and ideological civil war brewing – and is losing its mantle of leadership in the world.
   
   Weintraub concluded that, since the education system has access to most students and their families for 13 years, a redesigned K-12 system can also be the forum for creating a better America.
   
   This book was inspired by and grounded in conversations with high school students representing every demographic and achievement group -- the equivalent of tens of thousands of research interviews.
   

www.stephenweintraub.com