• You cannot touch a school without touching the culture of the surrounding town. — Chapter 11, page 98
  • Public education must be aggressively supported if America is to remain great, but the system must be changed. —Introduction, page 6
  • At lunch, they took me to eat in the teachers' lounge. This is not a pretty sight. — Chapter 3, page 27
  • To unfold the full potential of every child, we must do more than change our schools. We must change America — Chapter 11, page 99
  • When it comes to our schools, many Americans are afflicted with Nostesia: 50% nostalgia, 50% amnesia. — Chapter 11, page 99
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  • Vollmer has written a tonic for every educator’s soul! Teachers, administrators, and school board members will LOVE his message because it is what we believe at our core. —Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director, National School Boards Association
  • I wish everyone who cares about our future would read Jamie's thoughtful, practical story of discovery, and then join in the effort to increase student success —The Honorable Richard Riley, United States Secretary of Education 1993 – 2001
  • Jamie Vollmer brings a refreshing voice of reason to the education reform debate. His book is the how-to manual for starting conversations that will ensure that every child receives a quality public education —Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association
  • In his captivating, entertaining story, Jamie describes his transformation from public education critic to ally, and, in doing so, he provides a new understanding of the complex issues we face. —Gerald N. Tirozzi, Executive Director, National Association of Secondary School Principals

No generation of educators in history has been asked to do what Americans now demand of their public schools. Each year the burden grows, and each day millions of teachers and administrators give everything they’ve got to meet the challenge. Their record of achievement is remarkable. But no matter how hard they work, or how often they are criticized, they cannot produce the results our nation needs. Not because they are arrogant, overpaid, or unionized. America’s educators cannot “teach all children to high levels” because they work in a system designed to do something else: Select and sort young people for an industrial society that no longer exists.

Schools Cannot Do It Alone tells of Jamie Vollmer’s extraordinary journey through the land of public education. Once a harsh critic, he has become an award-winning advocate and trusted partner of America's public schools. His encounters with blueberries, bell curves, and smelly eighth graders lead him to two critical discoveries. First, we have a systems problem, not a people problem. We must change the system to get the graduates we need. Second, we cannot touch the system without touching the culture of the surrounding town; everything that goes on inside a school is tied to local attitudes, values, traditions, and beliefs.

Drawing on his work in hundreds of districts, Jamie offers teachers, administrators, board members, and their allies a practical program to secure the understanding, trust, permission, and support they need to change the system and increase student success.