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Class Warfare
- Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 16 hrs
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Publisher's summary
In a reporting tour de force, award-winning journalist Steven Brill takes an uncompromising look at the adults who are fighting over America’s failure to educate its children and points the way to reversing that failure.
Brill’s vivid narrative, filled with unexpected twists and turns, takes us from the Oval Office, where President Obama signs off on an unprecedented plan that will infuriate the teachers unions because it offers billions to states that win an education reform “contest”; to boisterous assemblies, where parents join the fight over their children’s schools; to a Fifth Avenue apartment, where billionaires plan a secret fund to promote school reform; to a Colorado high school, where students who seemed destined to fail are instead propelled to college; to state capitols across the country, where school reformers hoping to win Obama’s "contest" push bills that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. It’s the story of an unlikely army - fed-up public-school parents, Ivy League idealists, hedge-funders, civil rights activists, conservative Republicans, insurgent Democrats - squaring off against unions that the reformers claim are protecting a system that works for the adults but victimizes the children.
Class Warfare is filled with extraordinary people taking extraordinary paths: a young woman who goes into teaching almost by accident, then becomes so talented and driven that fighting burnout becomes her biggest challenge; an antitrust lawyer who almost brought down Bill Gates’ Microsoft and now forms a partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates to overhaul New York’s schools; a naive Princeton student who launches an army of school reformers with her senior thesis; a California teachers union lobbyist who becomes the mayor of Los Angeles and then the union’s prime antagonist; a stubborn young teacher who, as a child growing up on Park Avenue, had been assumed to be learning disabled but ends up co-founding the nation’s most successful charter schools; and an anguished national union leader who walks a tightrope between compromising enough to save her union and giving in so much that her members will throw her out.
Brill not only takes us inside their roller-coaster battles, he also concludes with a surprising prescription for what it will take from both sides to put the American dream back in America’s schools.
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- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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With Barack Obama's historic election in 2008, pundits proclaimed the Republicans as dead as the Whigs of yesteryear. Yet even as Democrats swooned, a small cadre of Republican operatives, including Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie, and Chris Jankowski, began plotting their comeback with a simple yet ingenious plan. These men had devised a way to take a tradition of dirty tricks - known to political insiders as "ratf**king" - to a whole new unprecedented level.
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Politicians Should Not Get to Choose their Voters
- By Anthony Diaz on 08-24-16
By: David Daley
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Outsider in the White House
- Special Audio Edition
- By: Bernie Sanders, Huck Gutman, John Nichols - afterword
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett, Brian Sutherland
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Bernie Sanders' campaign for the presidency of the United States has galvanized supporters all over the country, drawing attention to issues of economic, racial, and social justice and spotlighting one of the most interesting and unconventional candidates in decades.
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Behind the Scenes with Bernie--- WORTH it!
- By Susie on 02-23-16
By: Bernie Sanders, and others
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Mike Bloomberg
- Money, Power, Politics
- By: Joyce Purnick
- Narrated by: Mark Moseley
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Michael Bloomberg is not only New York City's 108th mayor; he is a business genius and self-made billionaire. He has run the toughest city in America with an independence and show of ego that first brought him great success and eventually threatened it. Yet while Bloomberg is internationally known and admired, few people know the man behind the carefully crafted public persona.
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Not the most captivating, but a decent summary
- By liz w on 03-06-17
By: Joyce Purnick
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The Crusades of Cesar Chavez
- A Biography
- By: Miriam Pawel
- Narrated by: Jackson Gutierrez
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In the first comprehensive biography of Chavez, Miriam Pawel offers a searching yet empathetic portrayal. Chavez emerges here as a visionary figure with tragic flaws; a brilliant strategist who sometimes stumbled; and a canny, streetwise organizer whose pragmatism was often at odds with his elusive, soaring dreams.
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Cesar Chávez
- By Ed on 09-10-18
By: Miriam Pawel
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A Woman in Charge
- The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton
- By: Carl Bernstein
- Narrated by: Dick Rodstein
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Carl Bernstein's stunning portrait of Hillary Rodham Clinton shows us, as nothing else has, the true trajectory of her life and career, with its zigzag bursts of risks taken and safety sought. Marshaling all the skills and energy that propelled his history-making Pulitzer Prize reporting on Watergate, Bernstein gives us the most detailed, sophisticated, comprehensive, and revealing account of Hilary Rodham Clinton yet.
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in depth and well-written
- By Katherine on 07-20-07
By: Carl Bernstein
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Nothing to Fear
- FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America
- By: Adam Cohen
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Nothing to Fear brings to life a fulcrum moment in American history - the tense, feverish first 100 days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency, when he and his inner circle completely reinvented the role of the federal government.
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Important contribution
- By R.S. on 03-05-09
By: Adam Cohen
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Bushwhacked
- Life in George W. Bush's America
- By: Molly Ivins, Lou Dubose
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In their second book on our current White House occupant, Ivins and Dubose take the wire brush to the Bush presidency and show how he has applied the same flawed strategies he used in governing Texas to running the largest superpower in the world.
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Richly informative & entertaining...
- By Native Texan on 10-29-03
By: Molly Ivins, and others
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My Story
- By: Julia Gillard
- Narrated by: Julia Gillard, Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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"I was prime minister for three years and three days. Three years and three days of resilience. Three years and three days of changing the nation. Three years and three days for you to judge." On Wednesday 23 June 2010, with the government in turmoil, Julia Gillard asked Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for a leadership ballot. The next day, Julia Gillard became Australia's 27th prime minister, and our first female leader.
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Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
- By Michael on 10-11-16
By: Julia Gillard
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Act of Congress
- How America's Essential Institution Works, and How It Doesn't
- By: Robert G. Kaiser
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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An eye-opening account of how Congress today really works - and doesn’t - that follows the dramatic journey of the sweeping financial reform bill enacted in response to the Great Crash of 2008. The founding fathers expected Congress to be the most important branch of government and gave it the most power. When Congress is broken - as its justifiably dismal approval ratings suggest - so is our democracy.
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insightful, and eye opening.
- By A&K Schneider on 10-21-17
By: Robert G. Kaiser
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The Quiet Man
- The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush
- By: John H. Sununu
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In this unique insider account, John H. Sununu pays tribute to his former boss - an intelligent, thoughtful, modest leader - and his overlooked accomplishments. Though George H. W. Bush is remembered for orchestrating one of the largest and most successful military campaigns in history - the Gulf War - Sununu argues that conventional wisdom misses many of Bush's other great achievements.
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Outstanding Biograpy
- By Warren Brookes on 07-25-15
By: John H. Sununu
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Believer
- My Forty Years in Politics
- By: David Axelrod
- Narrated by: David Axelrod
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The man behind some of the greatest political changes of the last decade, David Axelrod has devoted a lifetime to questioning political certainties and daring to bring fresh thinking into the political landscape. Whether as a child hearing John F. Kennedy stump in New York or as a strategist guiding the first African American to the White House, Axelrod shows in Believer how his own life stands at the center of the tumultuous American century.
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Love letter to Obama
- By DaWoolf on 03-15-15
By: David Axelrod
What listeners say about Class Warfare
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Elton
- 09-16-11
Unions are Evil
The attack on unions continue. Initially, this book was a wonderful balanced approach to American schools, but somewhere in the second third of the book it got stuck on the Union issue and just never let it go. It went from detailing and analyzing problems to harping on the teacher unions. Yes, unions become a problem when they resort to their lowest common denominator, e.g. really bad teachers, but that happened for a reason.
As a former teacher in Pasadena, California and current university professor in Tokyo, Japan, I have two things to say: First, the grass is not greener on the other side. Education in Japan is not better than education in the US, from my 9 years of public/private experience here. Secondly, as a former teacher, I remember ignoring my union president and principal's orders and doing my own thing, with the result that all of my students' reading and math scores improved. It is about the person in the front of the class and their dogged determination to succeed.
This is one of those issues that touches almost every single American and, having been in a classroom, we all have some ideas of what should or should not happen. As I listened to this book I saw the logic of what was being asked, but then realized that the hard-liners are in control. Union leaders who feel the need to protect every single teacher against every possible offense, and union busting bureaucrats/administrators who want to rule with iron fists.
In the end Mr. Brill presents a brilliant, though one-sided, case about the reform issues in our public education system. It is too bad he does not present a more balanced approach to problem solving.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Wade T. Brooks
- 06-25-12
A Good Place to Start
If you are interested in the history and current status of the efforts to reform the public education system in the U.S. this is a good place to start. This book outlines all the political, education, and union players in the reformers vs. unions vs. government battle for the hearts and minds of our children.
A number of interesting programs are detailed including: Teach For America, Race to the Top, Charter Schools, Gates Foundation, KIPP Schools, No Child Left Behind, etc. The book goes into detail on all the individual players and the battles they waged and are still waging.
If you are unfamiliar with the fight here is a quick synopsis: U.S. student test scores have been falling rapidly and rank in the bottom third globally even though we are one of the top countries in spending per student. The reformers believe this is because there are no measurement tools related to teacher performance and student outcomes. The unions vehemently deny that those tools have any value and think there are too many student variables to effectively measure teacher performance.
The reformers are fighting to change the laws and create outcome based performance measurements and incentives. Most of the recently published data supports the reformers position and they are locked in a battle with the largest union in the US, the national teachers union - NEA, who has a tremendous amount of political clout and money.
Worth the read if you are interested in this complex issue.
The book is biased on the side of the reformers.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Tim
- 01-07-12
Education has become an Accessory, not a Necessity
The overall content of the book is decent with the battle with the teachers union, charter and public schools, rubber rooms, and race to the top. It seems like we all heard about this before.
We might have bad education, but no matter how good is the school or how poor is their neighborhood, it's up to the parent to be on top of their kids. Like, "What did you do in school today?" "Did you do your homework, show me your work?"
I really think that parents nowadays, relies on schools and teachers so much that they don't pay any attention on what their kids are doing in the classroom. No matter what the school is like, it's up to their parents to stay on top on their children by being involved.
If a single mom is from the ghetto and her kids are going to a crappy school, if education was important to her, she would make sure that her kids are doing their work no matter if she is home or not. She might have to work two or three jobs, but she will make sure that they are at home, doing their work and getting the grades. We hear about these kinds of story all the time, single mom, poor, and her children becomes much more successful because of their parents.
Then, you have the other side. Wealthy kids going to a good school and becoming underachievers because their parents are not involve.
Charter schools, Private schools, Seed Schools are not the answer. Just because they get in, does not mean success, if their parents doesn't get involve.
Charter schools can kick out students for any reasons. They might not meet the test score, gone. Causing too much trouble, gone. Having a mental disability, gone. The same goes for teachers and most them are on an year by year contract and that put even more pressure on them to succeed, or they are gone.
We as an whole, don't value "education" like we used to.
Education has become an accessory, not a necessity.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Lawrence
- 10-25-11
A Much Needed Book
When I started college some 55 years ago, it was common knowledge that the school of education was the resort of those with the poorest entrance grades. I don't think that's changed. The shocking revelations about New York's handling of those who in any other career would be fired needs to be spead far and wide. In my state a judge blocked the implementation of a qualifying test that was employed nationally because it was said to be racially biased. Imagine that, math, English, history, art, etc. being so classified. The welfare of countless children took backseat to benefit "teachers" afraid to, or unable to pass a test.
Tenure was intended to protect against arbitrary action--initially created to encourage free
exchange of ideas--and now exists principally as a means of extortion. It costs more to fire an unqualified person than to keep them on the payroll. One need go no further than to compare our children's educational ranking with the rest of the world to know that something must change if we are to keep pace (much less lead).
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- Jodie
- 02-17-12
Great book!
I disagree with some of the other reviews - this book is not slamming unions. In fact, I think it very honestly portrays the issues. Some of the people in the book are definately anti-union, but he is only reporting their feelings. He also reports the unions' side. I think it is just that when the reader hears what is being done by the unions, they can't help the emotions that come up.
Brill basically uncovers all the events that have happened in education for the last 10 years or so, which helped me gain some clarity that I was missing. As a doctoral student, I found this book to be extremely helpful. He gave me some background on the movers and shakers in education which helped me understand where they came from and why. He speaks not only of unions and the Obama administration, but also about Teach for America, the New Teacher Project, New Orleans, The Gates Foundation Grants, Michelle Rhee, Colorado and Michael Johnson, Harlem Success Academy, KIPP Schools, and the Race to the Top program.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Andy
- 09-06-11
now i understand why schools don't work
If you want to understand why the path to great schools is so tortuous, read this book. Needless to say, "kids" are rarely the first priority. I won't spoil it for you, but Brill's big idea, at the end of the book, is somewhat interesting. Solid narration.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Tim
- 02-04-12
Eye opening
What did you like best about this story?
Very eye opening accounts and data concerning our educational system and what is contributing to it's downward spiral.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
The willingness of so many people to go against party politics to persue what really mattered: the next generation
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mazjanis
- 09-12-11
Excellent Book on the School Reform Movemet
As a public school administrator I am impressed how well Brill tells the story of the battles that are going on in the American Educational System. The narration is good and the writing is well paced.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lynn
- 11-11-12
A Look inside the Policy Sausage Grinder
Steven Brill in Class Warfare: Inside the fight to Fix America’s Schools has accomplished the impossible; making education policy exciting and interesting. You don’t have to be a policy wonk to benefit by the closely written and thoroughly researched narrative that Brill presents here. The founder of Brill’s Content Magazine – if you remember that great effort – Brill presents the story of how Federal education policy has come to be. He tells the story in a very well researched and readable style. Any American interested in the current status of schools in the US will benefit from his narrative and the insights that readers will gain from it. This is not a teaching book or a classroom management book. It is sort of a contemporary history book. Readers will not fully agree with Brill’s conclusions, but he certainly makes tax payers think, think, think. If nothing else, a reading of Brill’s current volume will know something of the sausage grinder that produces education reform in this era. The narration of L J Ganswer is very good.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Andrew
- 12-06-12
Informative & Detailed - Worth the Time to Listen
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the issues facing our public schools.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Class Warfare?
I did not realize the effect Race to the Top was having on changing our public schools. I also did not realize how Democrats have been working to address the issues with public schools.
Which character – as performed by L. J. Ganser – was your favorite?
Joe Klein - Chancellor of NYC Schools
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
I believe when all the smoke clears the deciding factor in education is our Teachers. There is a lot of smoke to clear out of the way - unions, contracts, laws, etc. but the core way to make a change is to get the best teacher possible in front of our students and let them teach. I hope we can do this within our existing framework of public schools.
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1 person found this helpful