The federal government is devoting millions of dollars to charter and voucher programs that currently require parents to abandon regular public schools. The School Choice Hoax: Fixing America's Schools exposes the misleading hyperbole that has been driving the school choice movement and shows how charter schools can become more effective and useful to public school districts. Corwin and Schneider provide an unusual blend of academic and practical knowledge derived from long careers careers as a sociologist and former Deputy Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators. They form conclusions from years of research and present information that is helpful to parents faced with the prospect of making school choice work. The School Choice Hoax is packed with observations about school choice that will inform parents, politicians, and other community members about the advantages and disadvantages of choice schools.

The authors have advanced a novel, persuasive argument for a new and unique use of charter schools within school districts in ways that could make them model schools. This is must-reading for school administrators who are grappling with issues presented by disparities between schools in their districts and searching for equitable solutions that will make their districts shine. -- Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood, author of The Charter Schools Decade
As the debate about the effects of school choice policies rages on, Corwin and Schneider offer a pragmatist's solution to the 'school choice hoax'. These two Washington insiders argue that the public has been deceived by false promises that suggest the nation's worst schools will be fixed by school choice. They point to evidence that suggests the choice movement has not, and cannot, fix U.S. schools. Rather than reject school choice altogether, the authors argue for vouchers and charter schools (two popular and contentious forms of choice) to be combined into an integrated approach. This approach, which would put choice schools under the supervision of districts, would draw on the lessons learned from older reforms that have demonstrated success: the small schools initiatives, school-based management, magnets, networks of schools, and specialized alternative schools. Corwin and Schneider bring together insights and arguments that have been advanced on both sides of the choice debate. This novel approach is interesting, if not empirically well-supported. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, graduate students, faculty, and practitioners. * Choice Reviews *
The title, The School Choice Hoax, sums up the thesis of this well-researched and informative book....Corwin and Schneider do a thorough review of the schools' performance, with plenty of data to support their evidence. * School Administrator *
Based on an honest and well-researched description of education for poor children in this country, the authors have recommended strategies for systemic change to solve the problem. If you're really serious about closing the achievement gap, you have to read this book. -- Joseph J. Cirasuolo, Ed.D., past president, American Association of School Administrators

Ronald G. Corwin is professor emeritus of sociology at The Ohio State University. He also served as director of basic research in the U.S. Department of Education, vice president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and various elected positions in the American Sociological Research Association. Author or co-author of 15 books and two dozen contributed chapters, he also edited a series of books on educational research. His work has appeared in the American Sociological Review and other sociological journals, including Sociology of Education for which he served as an associate editor.

E. Joseph Schneider serves as distinguished senior fellow, National Policy Board for Educational Administration, Washington, D.C., and was the deputy executive director of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). He has also served as president of Leadership Development Resources, executive secretary of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration, and the CEO of a Washington-based education association.