Education reform expert to speak at Syracuse University

Education reform expert to speak at Syracuse UniversityApril 04, 2003Nicci Brownnicbrown@syr.edu

Richard Rothstein, a national expert in education policy, will speak at SU April 9. Rothstein’s address “Narrowing the Gap: Balancing Social, Economic, and Instructional Reforms,” will be held in the Maxwell Auditorium at 4 p.m. SU’s School of Education is sponsoring the event and attendance is free and open to the public.

“All of us in the School of Education are looking forward to Richard Rothstein’s visit,” says Emily Roberston, Interim Dean of the School of Education. “Rothstein is a leading voice in educational reform. His work for the Spencer Foundation, which is the basis for his lecture at Syracuse, challenges current assumptions about relationships between education and the economy and social mobility. Rothstein’s views, if accepted, would entail major changes in public policy. We are expecting a lively discussion.”

Rothstein is a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and until recently Rothstein was the national education columnist for the New York Times.

His most recent publication “All Else Equal” (with Luis Benveniste and Martin Carnoy, 2002) has received a great deal of critical acclaim. In his New York Times review of the book, Timothy Hacsi says Rothstein and his “All Else Equal” coauthors “wade into the voucher debate in a way that sets them apart.” “They are reasonable,” says Hacsi. “They lay out the arguments fairly. And then they actually test voucher advocates’ theories and describe the results of their research without making grandiose claims.” Hacsi, whose most recent book is “Children as Pawns: The Politics of Educational Reform,” says “All Else Equal” is a must-read for “anyone who cares about public education.”

Rothstein has also authored “The Way We Were? The Myths and Realities of America’s Student Achievement” (1998); and “Where’s the Money Gone? Changes in the Level and Composition in Education Spending” (1995).

He is currently working on a book defining the cost of an adequate education.