Journalist Jennifer Berkshire and academic Jack Schneider’s latest book offers a pathway for advocating for public schools in our current political moment. Berkshire and Schneider consider how we got to this current education moment with book bans, underfunded schools, and contentious battles over our public schools. Equally important in naming the problem, the authors also offer a blueprint for fighting for better, more inclusive schools. In that sense, the book is equal parts history lesson and a call to action. This book is a strong antidote to a feeling of hopelessness.
Henry “Cody” Miller is an associate professor of English education at SUNY Brockport. He joined Brockport and moved to Rochester in fall 2019. He taught public high school English for seven years in Florida prior to moving to New York. Cody began attending and presenting at NYSEC in October 2022. His work has been published in English Record and the NYSEC blog. He previously served as NCTE’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee. He is the current editor of the English Leadership Quarterly, the journal of the Conference on English Leadership. His teaching and research focus on young adult literature, graphic novels, supporting LGBTQ students, and activism against book bans.