Acknowledgments

Although there is only one name on the byline of this book, I could not have written it without the solidarity and support of many family, friends, and colleagues. If you found this one valuable, you should know that all the people below helped in ways I won’t be able to acknowledge well enough. But I will try anyway.

First, I thank the National Academy of Education and the support of their generous postdoctoral fellowship, funding which they extended multiple times as it was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Also essential was the support of a summer fellowship from the UW-Green Bay Research Council. Without funding from each of these sources, this book probably wouldn’t have happened.

Though COVID prevented me from doing all the archival research I would have liked, the help of several archives was essential in producing this book. I thank the staff, especially Vakil Smallen, at the NEA Archives at George Washington University, as well as the staff of the Walther Reuther Library, especially Dan Golodner, whose help has been integral for two books now. Thanks also to the one-and-only Deb Anderson and the rest of the staff at the UW-Green Bay Area Research Center.

At UW-Green Bay, I owe more debts than I can count. Our campus truly is a community of scholars and teachers, and I deeply treasure all the support and insights over the years from my colleagues. For friendship and support, thanks very much to Gaurav Bansal, David Coury, Tara DaPra, Christin DePouw, Mike Draney, Adam Gaines, Georgette Heyrman, Doreen Higgins, J. P. Leary, Ryan Martin, Rebecca Nesvet, Cristina Ortiz, Courtney Sherman, Heidi Sherman, Christine Smith, Patricia Terry, David Voelker, Aaron Weinschenk, and Brian Welsch. Thanks also to Dean Chuck Rybak for his support of this project. My home department, Democracy and Justice Studies, is the best academic department anyone could ask for, and I offer my deepest gratitude to Andrew Austin, Nolan Bennett, Jillian Jacklin, Katia Levintova, Eric Morgan, Kaden Paulson-Smith, Kim Reilly, and Alison Staudinger. I can’t thank our administrative assistant, Lorri Kornowski, enough for her help and support.

In addition to anything I’ve taught them, my students over the years have taught me just as much, particularly about the topic of this book. I’ve continued to learn from many of these students after they’ve graduated, and I thank my friends Elyza Ahrens, Evan Ash, Tresavoya Blake, Dan Buckley, Nate Fiene, Ben Freeman, Guillermo Gomez, Marcus Grignon, Casey Hicks, Rachel Kaschak, Lorenzo Lones, Greg Lutz, Anastasia McCain, Chad Osteen, Chris Parker, Sierra Spaulding, Joey Taylor, and Linnea Zintman. For this book, in particular, I’d like to thank the students of two upper-division senior seminars at UWGB that took up the topic of the political economy of education, especially Kwynn Carter, Shane Kanneberg, Kylie Olson, and Sergei Sutto.

In my work as a union activist, I’ve been blessed with brothers and sisters across the state who have become like a second family. Thanks to Melanie Cary, Andy Felt, Chad Goldberg, Peter Hart-Brinson, John Heppen, Doug Margolis, Peter Meyerson, Nerissa Nelson, Anya Paretskaya, Chris Ramaekers, David Simmons, and Paul Van Auken. Thanks also to former American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin staff Rob Henn and Dan Suarez, and special thanks to AFT-W program director John Yaggi and President Kim Kohlhaas, both of whom have taught me more about solidarity than I can put into words. Then there are my comrades in the Wisconsin Labor History Society. Thanks to Steve Cupery, Ken Germanson, Judy Gatlin, Jaclyn Kelly, and the rest of the Board of Directors for their support and friendship.

A number of generous scholars and authors have either read drafts, given me feedback that prevented me from heading in a disastrous direction, or just provided important encouragement. Thanks to Mahasan Chaney, Ansley Erickson, Patricia Graham, Tina Groeger, Jeff Helgeson, Dan Kaufman, Joe McCartin, Adam Mertz, Bill Reese, Kate Rousmaniere, Cam Scribner, Eleni Schirmer, Naomi Williams, and Lane Windham. Thanks also to the other members of the “Lighthouse Nine,” Cathleen Cahill, Chris Florio, Frederick Gooding, Will Jones, Fran Ryan, Katie Turk, Eric Yellin, and Amy Zanoni, for our conversations on public-sector work. I’ll never be able to stop thanking my graduate school mentors Saverio Giovacchini and David Freund, both of whom continue to support my work these many years after I’ve left the University of Maryland, College Park. And my graduate school adviser, Julie Greene, has never stopped mentoring me to this day. She’s the best. Finally, Jerry Podair continues to be a great friend and confidant, and I relish our conversations about history and baseball.

Speaking of friends, I want to thank my friends in Green Bay and elsewhere for all their support over the past few years: Eric and Emily Genrich, Eli Helman, Lorna Kaye, Jamie Lynch, Adam Parrillo, Tim Sharma, David Siegel, and Ira Wigley. I also want to acknowledge three friends, in particular, who have shaped my thinking on this project more than anyone else: Stephen Duncan, who continues to read just about everything I write and never fails to help me figure out what I am trying to do; Neil Kraus, whose conversations with me about what Americans have gotten so wrong about education have made this book much, much better; and especially, Harvey Kaye, who has helped me truly understand why the case for social democracy is so essential. If I weren’t friends with Harvey, this book simply wouldn’t be here.

Thanks to Sarah Grossman, my editor at Cornell University Press, as well as the two anonymous reviewers whose feedback, at several stages, improved this book immensely. And I thank Tracy Steffes and Jon Zimmerman, the two series editors for CUP’s Histories of Education. Before I had a publisher, Jon pitched this series to me, and I’m so glad I decided to go with Cornell. Jon has given me tough but compassionate feedback at many stages along the way, and both he and Tracy have consistently pushed me to ensure this book made the argument I wanted to make. I couldn’t have asked for better guidance.

Finally, over the past couple years, the support of family has never been more important. Thank you to Tom and Tina Sandherr, Evan Sandherr and Elodie Ontala, Justin and Stephanie Sandherr, and the extended Sandherr and Vasko families. I can’t thank my father Keith Shelton or my siblings, Angi, Arryn, and Stephen, enough for their support over the years. Thanks also to Teresa Banks, and to my uncle Steve Shelton for his constant encouragement. My grandparents, Lester and Erline Shelton, to whom this book is dedicated, continue to be my role models. Finally, to Sara, Keith, and Kristina: much of this book was written as we were all living together 24/7 in close quarters. I appreciate the three of you sharing that space with me as the love in our family only grew stronger. To write a book during that time was only a bonus.