public schools

Contains twenty-four essays by various authors in which they present different perspectives on issues related to education, addressing questions about the state of public education, school choice, multicultural approaches, religious and moral values, and reform.

Analyzing four issues plaguing the American school system in the twenty-first century, which examines variants in student abilities, limitations of potential, the increased average of college-bound students, and America's approach to the academically gifted.

Examines the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students and teachers within the America's public school system, analyzes legal developments that concern their rights, discusses the First and Fourteenth amendments, and addresses the implications of asserting and protecting the rights of the LGBT community.

Presents nineteen essays that argue that the educational system in the United States incorrectly associates harder with better, subjecting young children to grades, homework, and standardized tests for no other reason than to prepare these children for the grades, homework, and standardized tests that they will encounter in the future.

Discusses the key players in America's quest for education reform, examining the roles and ideas of the White House, teachers' unions, public school parents, Ivy League idealists, civil rights activists, and other individuals, and offers advice based on solutions from both sides.

Presents twenty-six essays that argue opposing positions on such education issues as whether alternatives to public education are viable, what role religious and moral values should play in public education, and how public education can be improved.

Presents a survey of eleven major book banning incidents, a look at laws regarding bookbanning, interviews with the authors of banned books, and an annotated listing of the fifty most challenged books from 1996 through 2000.

Provides a survey of some censorship cases and examines causes and reasons for the increase in censorship.