About The Author
“I offer nothing more than simple facts,
plain arguments and common sense”
Thomas Paine
I have written this book, not because I am a very great writer, but because of a deep concern for American youth and our public education system; an intimate understanding of parental frustration when interacting with public school systems; and an abiding conviction that our great nation can not prosper without fit public schools. Public schools are literally perishing from consumption. Healing them will require our collective focus and sustained attention to restore them to vibrant and safe places where children can thrive and excel in educational attainment.
You may wonder what a commercial real estate broker is doing writing a book on public education reform. I have wondered about that myself on more than one occasion. Though my current occupation is commercial real estate brokerage, I was formally trained and certified as a (k-12) teacher. As a competent and credentialed teacher I worked in both public and private school settings. My unique experiences, straddling public and private school systems, are in large measure the reason I have undertaken this endeavor.
This manuscript is based upon 18 years of study and research. It has been written and re-written, checked and double-checked, edited, revised and edited yet again. Drawing upon my university training, practical experience, years of research, study and analysis, these many years have given me the opportunity to qualify and balance my research, to identify new and pertinent issues in the greater public debate, and to hone my writing skills. I have utilized the best and most reliable data compiled by the most comprehensive clearinghouses in the world. The data has always been available, but the combination of data points is fresh and new. Charting the Course strives to retool perceptions about public education.
Since I began this work in 1991 and in spite of a myriad of school reform strategies across the 50 states, as well as the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act, the condition of public education in the U.S. has continued to deteriorate. Periodically I have monitored and updated all of the statistical data which I initially collected and analyzed for this work. Refreshing and reanalyzing the data several times has proven valuable in my research because it has provided yet another checkpoint for accuracy.
The findings are consistent and lead to logical conclusions which are reinforced by well accepted, scientific studies. The scholarship is sound, the data is sound, the methodology is acceptable, and the conclusions drawn are not outlandish. The material is simply and honestly presented and will add significantly to the subject of public education reform. Public education is sure to remain a prominent feature of the public landscape. This manuscript can make a difference.
More detail about the author is available in the book proposal. You can receive a copy of the book proposal by emailing me at tamrackit@verizon.net.