"America has failed to keep two promises to its students—to desegregate their schools and to fund them equitably. Liu digs deeply into the funding inequities that exist in one state, Pennsylvania, that serves as a template for almost every state. This is an important book."

Gloria Ladson-Billings, author of "Justice Matters"

"Designed to Fail is a profoundly original, remarkably rigorous, and desperately needed text. Spotlighting the struggles over school funding in Pennsylvania, Roseann Liu demonstrates how U.S. educational apartheid is rooted not only in well-documented funding gaps, but also fundamentally indebted to an under-examined array of racialized institutions, systems, and policies. Through rich ethnographic inquiry, augmented by careful policy analysis, this book destroys the veneer of colorblindness by exposing how race has persistently normalized and intensified school funding inequality. Beyond her brilliant analysis of our present crisis, Liu generously provides a clear and actionable strategy for transforming educational policy from an intractable space of racial harm into a rich site of possibility for racial repair. This is a must-read text for scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and anyone committed to producing educational justice."

Marc Lamont Hill, coauthor of "Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media, and the Fight for Racial Justice"

"A welcome and much-needed analysis, Liu lays to rest common assumptions about funding inequity in schools, and provides a powerful, clear, unapologetic racial analysis of school finance, one that draws attention to structural racism behind school funding in Pennsylvania and nationwide, the actors who enable such racism to persist, and those who relentlessly work to challenge it. This is an important read for those who want to understand and address this enduring injustice of school funding in the United States."

 

Erica O. Turner, author of "Suddenly Diverse: How School Districts Manage Race and Inequality"

"Readers come away with an in-depth understanding of the way schoolfunding works, the tenuous relationships that develop around policy, and how systemic racism is still driving inequities in education."

Choice