Host Dr. Karin Sconzert's guest on Education Matters is UW-River Falls Political Science Professor Neil Kraus.
The Fantasy Economy: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Education Reform Movement is a new book by UW-River Falls Political Science Professor Neil Kraus. In it, he argues that the K-12 education system and the university system are being blamed for failing to do something: creating more and better jobs. Listen for the evidence that Dr. Krause has collected about this increasingly common criticism of education.
In this interview, he references The Math Myth and other STEM Delusions by Andrew Hacker, who was interviewed by Karin in June 2016.
Dr. Neil Kraus has been at UWRF since 2005. He teaches several courses in American politics and public policy, and specializes in urban politics and policies. He is Department Chair, Pre-Law Advisor, as well as Chair of the International Studies Program. Professor Kraus has written three books: Majoritarian Cities: Policy Making and Inequality in Urban Politics (2013, University of Michigan Press), Race, Neighborhoods, and Community Power: Buffalo Politics, 1934-1997 (2000, State University of New York Press), and The Fantasy Economy: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Education Reform Movement (2023, Temple University Press), as well as several journal articles and book chapters on topics such as race and urban politics, education policy, inter-local cooperation, the politics of Presidential elections in Wisconsin, as well as the politics of voting regulation in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Professor Kraus is also a frequent contributor to local and regional news organizations, including as the author of several articles for The Cap Times (https://captimes.com/opinion/guest-columns/opinion-universities-of-wisconsin-leave-no-ed-tech-vendor-behind/article_fc0bd01c-ca9b-11ee-86c9-67c53f452fba.html) and MinnPost. He is currently writing a book about economic inequality and education policy.