Kenneth Saltman, a professor in DePaul University’s College of Education, will discuss democratic education amid corporate school reform as the keynote speaker at the inaugural Critical Transformative Leadership and Policy Conference at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Nov. 17.

“As public education has a central role in providing citizens with the intellectual tools of rational discourse, deliberation and engagement, public education is being radically remade by corporate school reform in ways that hinder critical thought, the evaluation of knowledge, and the relationship between claims to truth and the social forces informing their production,” Saltman said.

“These reforms, including charters, vouchers, scholarship tax credits, ‘turnarounds’ and ‘portfolio districts,’ not only fail to improve test scores or cut costs, but they worsen racial segregation, exacerbate funding inequalities and promote anti-intellectualism, enacting a two-tier system of public schooling,” Saltman said.

The conference offers a platform to discuss the role of democracy in education. The keynote address will provide an opportunity for educational researchers and practitioners to engage in dialogue relevant to regional, national and international interests.

Saltman is a professor of educational policy studies and research at DePaul’s College of Education, where he also teaches in the graduate program on social and cultural foundations in education. His most recent book is “The Failure of Corporate School Reform.” Two other books he has authored, “Capitalizing on Disaster: Taking and Breaking Schools” and “The Gift of Education: Public Education and Venture Philanthropy,” received American Education Studies Association Critics’ Choice Book Awards. He received a Fulbright Scholarship in 2006 on globalization and culture and is a fellow of the National Education Policy Center.