Discription

This timely book outlines the growth and development of marketing and branding practices in public education. The authors highlight why these practices have become important across key fields within public education, including leadership and governance, budgeting and finance, strategic initiatives, use of new technology, the role of teachers in marketing, and messaging. From an organizational perspective, they explore the implications of edvertising on the democratic mission of public education, especially as related to issues of equity and access for students who have been historically underserved. The authors argue that expansive marketing campaigns, unequal funding sources, and lack of regulation are quickly and profoundly reshaping public education without the benefit of robust research or public debate. Selling School is important reading for principals navigating increasingly marketized school systems, for policymakers constructing legislation, and for parents negotiating school choice.

“DiMartino and Jessen are right in their prescient discussion of the muddling of public and private models in public education through marketing.”
—From the Foreword by Christopher Lubienski, Indiana University, Bloomington

“This book pioneers new ground as the authors move the literature on the marketization of education into a more nuanced analysis of how branding discourses and practices have entered the logic of public schooling.”
—Gary L. Anderson, New York University

“Essential for readers interested in learning about how private sector practices affect the functions of public schools.”
—Janelle Scott, University of California, Berkeley