With fewer teachers and slashed budgets, many school districts and local governments are being forced to make tough decisions that will impact the educational future of their students. What passes for school reform increasingly involves tightening belts, not expanding minds. In this context NYU senior scholar Deborah Meier speaks with Pedro Noguera, guest editor of The Nation‘s special education issue, about the challenges facing the country’s education system.

Meier said of the talk, “We covered a bit of everything from the impact of ending free school transportation for students to the increasingly top-down administrative approach to schooling that poses as ‘principal empowerment.’  Pedro and I even have occasional different assessments, which is one reason I look for opportunities to talk with him.  He’s often right.” Be sure to check out Noguera’s article, “A New Vision of School Reform,” for more reasons why the education of this country’s youth demands innovative new approaches to funding, teaching and learning.