Review of Learning from the Federal Market-Based Reforms

A book without an index is not a book, but a compilation. Bibles are ordinarily compilations of stories, and they do not need indexes if read by the faithful, as each word on every page may be accepted as gospel truth. No cross-references for elaboration or cross-checking for consistency is needed or desired–from the priest’s point of view. This bible is produced by the National Education Policy Center. Its ostensible mission is the production and dissemination of “high-quality, peer-reviewed research to inform education policy discussions,” and its priests say they believe that “the democratic governance of public education is strengthened when policies are based on sound evidence.” In fact the center, funded by teacher unions and progressive foundations, has as its mission, if this volume is a valid indicator, the dissemination of one-sided, ideologically tainted interpretations of alternative facts no genuinely peer-reviewed journal would ever publish.