'The deep and broad impact of political party context on local education outcomes for racial minorities, which Meier and Rutherford carefully delineate and document, is striking. This well-crafted and provocative study deserves close attention from scholars, policy makers, and, indeed, all who care about American democracy.' Rodney Hero, University of California, Berkeley 'Looking at the politics of African American education through ... Read morethe analytical lens of partisanship is not only insightful, it is path breaking. Meier and Rutherford enrich our understanding magnificently by going back to the basics of political science. How we organize our collective interests through party affiliation produces clear winners and losers in the classroom.' Luis Ricardo Fraga, Co-Director, Institute for Latino Studies & Arthur Foundation, University of Notre Dame 'Americans traditionally have preferred to think or pretend that race and partisanship both are barred at the schoolhouse door. Employing a range of data, Meier and Rutherford show that's not the case and, indeed, that race and partisanship interact to influence education of African American children in interesting and important ways.' Jeffrey R. Henig, Columbia University, Co-author of The Color of School Reform. Show Less