Review: Raising the Curve: A Year Inside One of America's 45,000* Failing Public Schools

Raising the Curve: A Year Inside One of America's 45,000* Failing Public Schools by Ron Berler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm not a bid reader of non-fiction. I don't think I ever really have been, but every now and then there are books that make me consider, well, reconsidering that point of view. This definitely one of those books. Well-written, highly researched, and very honest, Raising the Curve gives us a glimpse into a failing school, Brookside Elementary. But it's more than just a year as the title would have you believe because there is so much more to this school. There is the history of the town to be considered. The view of education that has laid the groundwork for where the school is, and even the groundwork for several of the children's lives who play main roles in this narrative.

But it seems hard to call it just a narrative. Written in a very conversational manner calling it a narrative almost makes me think that I'm trying to tell you about a well-researched piece of fiction when, in fact, that is not the case. This is a real story and, in a way, that makes what is written all the more poignant. Not everything ends happily or even magically. Bad things still happen and people still struggle and don't always come through victorious. I suppose, in a way, that makes the victories that are seen that much sweeter.

The story, in many ways, felt all too brief. I wanted to read more. I wanted to become more immersed in the story and the lives of these children and their teachers. I pray the best for them and wish that there was something I could do to help any school facing such a situation. I suppose, in many ways, that that is exactly what this book is meant to do. And it does it very well. Education is something that should be taken seriously before it becomes too late to reserve any damage which negligence does to it.



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