The Bookshelf: Dec. 22, 2016

Trib+Edu is joining with respected books authority Kirkus Reviews to bring you select reviews of books of note in the field of education. For more book reviews and recommendations, visit Kirkus.com.

CLASS CLOWNS: How the Smartest Investors Lost Billions in Education

by Jonathan A. Knee

Why can’t Johnny make a buck in the school game? Perhaps because, though the potential earnings are huge, the barriers to entry are formidable, as a former investment banker and current business professor charts. “Some of the most respected minds of our generation have invested many billions of dollars in for-profit education enterprises,” writes Knee. “And, with surprising regularity, they have lost their shirts.” ... School governance tends to be intensely local, for instance, and thus “a major textbook publisher must produce literally hundreds of thousands of SKUs of its core products to respond to local requirements.” It’s a hard arena even for a giant to make a living in, much less smaller players, no matter how good and noble the intentions.

For the full review, visit kirkus.com.