Best Education Leadership and Policy Books to Read in 2025
November 18, 2025
If you want to understand how school systems work and what drives change, reading the right education leadership and policy books is a great place
Lonnie Palmer
Lonnie Palmer, author of The Politics of Education K-12, a book that uncovers the realities of public education and how we can fix it through practical, tested reforms.
Rethinking Student Assessment
Educators today face the challenge of moving beyond standardized bubble-sheet tests to more meaningful ways of measuring student growth. One approach gaining traction is the use of authentic assessments, which allow students to demonstrate their understanding through real-world tasks and performances instead of fill-in-the-blank tests. If you’re curious about how this works in practice, you can learn more here: What is authentic assessment?.
Educator Pulls Back Curtain on
Politics of Interference in K12 Schools
In 1970, Lonnie Palmer earned a bachelor’s degree in physics with plans for a Ph.D.—until a U.S. military draft notice redirected his career. What began as a short‑term high school science teaching position evolved into a 40‑year journey as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and turnaround specialist in urban, suburban, and rural districts.
The Politics of Education K‑12 distills Palmer’s firsthand experience exploring the central questions:
Why are we spending more on public education yet seeing stagnant achievement?
Why do U.S. test scores lag behind other countries?
Where should educational resources be invested to meaningfully boost student performance?
This book challenges conventional thinking, sharing solutions-focused strategies drawn from decades of real-world reform. It’s a compelling call to realign resources for the benefit of student outcomes.
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Push for school district boundaries shares same impetus as charter schools – segregation
April 19, 2025
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12, available on Amazon by Lonnie Palmer There is one thing stopping us from combining resources in schools