Educating in Dangerous Times: A Call to Reenvision Public School in America (Beacon Press, 2026) is a new edited volume from Syracuse University School of Education Professor George Theoharis and UCLA Graduate School of Education Professor John Rogers, Director of the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA). The book invites leading education scholars to discuss the reenvisioning of equitable, inclusive, and democratic public schools.
A Zoom book launch event for Educating in Dangerous Times will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The event will feature an introduction to the book and its authors, as well as raffle prizes.
At a time when public schools again have become a primary site of political contention, the book raises the central question, “How should we collectively create the public schools we need?”
“The book includes short, personal, and engaging chapters by School of Education professors Christy Ashby and Beth Myers, as well as Judy Alston, Megan Franke, Antero Garcia, Marcelle Haddix, Julian Vasquez Heilig, Tyrone Howard, Pedro Noguera, Charles Payne, and others,” explains Theoharis.
He adds, “In this divisive moment, the authors present new ways to conceive of learning and schooling. We want the ideas in this book to be taken up by educators, parents, community members, policymakers, leaders, future leaders, and current students. This book is not just for one of these groups but all of them. It invites friends, neighbors, and people who do not yet know one another to talk together about our collective future and our shared public schools.”
Issues addressed by contributing scholars—who are experts in learning, school leadership, and the politics of education—range from supporting marginalized youth to rethinking English language arts and mathematics instruction. Each chapter re-envisions a future beyond current constrictions and proposes a path toward schools that affirm the value of each student, support their aspirations, and foster feelings of safety and belonging.
Writes Bettina L. Love, author of Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal (St. Martin’s Press, 2023), “Education is not only in danger but in need of direction—a direction that is bold, inclusive, and relentless in pursuit of justice. Educating in Dangerous Times is exactly that. Each chapter serves as a north star. In times like these, books like this guide us toward the world that is possible. I am excited to use this book in my classes. I feel it is necessary.”
“This is a powerful and timely collection that refuses to look away from the challenges facing public education while offering bold, humanizing visions for what schools can become,” writes Douglas Fisher, co-author of The Illustrated Guide to Teacher Clarity (Corwin, 2025). “It invites readers to reimagine schools as spaces of equity, dignity, and democratic possibility. Urgent, thoughtful, and deeply inspiring, this book is essential reading for anyone committed to the future of public education.”