How disparities in education endanger our freedom and economic prosperity—and what to do about it

Why has the richest, most powerful nation in the world failed to substantively address its shortcomings in education? While gains have undoubtedly been made for low-income students and people of color in the United States over the past half century, deep divides remain. These gaps are more than troubling—they threaten our democracy. And they are getting worse. In America's Achilles Heel, Dr. Ronald Crutcher, a nationally recognized leader in education, argues that persistent inequities and the failure to develop a capacity for civic engagement in all of its students have become the nation's proverbial weak spot, leaving the United States vulnerable to a fatal fracturing of its democracy and disastrous economic instability.

With this book, Crutcher presents concrete steps toward achieving full access to quality education, at all levels, for low-income students and ensuring that institutions prepare their students to engage in effective democratic practices—an object in which we all have a stake. America' Achilles Heel offers an antidote to the sense of hopelessness experienced by too many Americans today.