The American public school system is at a crossroad. One pathway is decorated with signs and institutions that will lead public education towards a destination of collective obligation, accountability, and responsibility that is student-centered, community-based, and driven by educators and parents working in the best interest of students, families, communities, and the broader society. The other pathway is littered with pamphlets, flyers, and electronic billboards falsely advertising the merits of school "choice." The direction American public schools appear to have taken over the past few decades is increasingly dotted with charter schools operated by for-profit multinational corporations, and themed public schools. Increasingly, efforts to reform public education in America resemble the business model made popular by the founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton. Big Box Schools: Race, Education, and the Danger of the Wal-Martization of Public Schools in America examines the dangers of the Wal-Martization of American public schools and highlights efforts to challenge policies and practices which place greater emphasis on profits than on pupils.

Lori Latrice Martin is associate dean in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at Louisiana State University.

Chapter 1: Public Schools and Pathways to Prosperity
Chapter 2: History of Race and Public Education in America
Chapter 3: Education as a Profit Machine
Chapter 4: Race, Public Education and the Wal-Mart Model
Chapter 5: Education and Today's Black Working-Class: Low Quality, Low Prices, Low Wages
Chapter 6: Does Common Core Make Common Sense?
Chapter 7: Plutocracies the Displacement of Indigenous Organizations and Educational Leaders
Chapter 8: Fighting Back: Changing Trajectory of Public Education in America
Chapter 9: Worth the Fight