From New Deal to No Deal:

In this article, Harvey Kantor and Robert Lowe explore the progression of American social policy and its relation to educational reform from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal to President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The authors assert that this progression has been marked by the federal government’s gradual divestment in public social provisions, and that the potential for NCLB to deliver on its promise of improved achievement of all students is limited by the erosion of the social and economic supports that are key components of educational success. Kantor and Lowe conclude that while NCLB intensifies the importance placed on education at the federal level, it contributes at the same time to the diminution of political support for a more expansive view of public social provision.

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Harvey Kantor is a professor of education and chair of the Department of Education, Culture, and Society at the University of Utah. His research focuses on the politics of class, race, and the history of education policy and on the relationship between education and the history of the welfare state.

Robert Lowe is professor of education at Marquette University. His research focuses on class, race, and schooling in historical perspective.