Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1. The school and the social order -- The purposes of public schooling -- The profession of teaching -- Teachers' unions and teacher politics -- Equality of opportunity and social class -- Equality of educational opportunity: race, gender, and special needs -- Student diversity -- Multicultural education
Part 2. Power and control in American education -- Local control, home schooling, choice, charter schools, privatization, and commercialism -- Power and control at the state and national levels: accountability, high-stakes testing, school violence, the reading and math wars, and private foundations -- Textbooks, curriculum, internet e-learning, and instruction -- The courts and the schools.

I changed several chapters in this edition to provide a more focused discussion f student diversity, social class, race, and federal and state control of education. addition, 1 updated all chapters and added new sections to several chapters. , this new edition, Chapter 4 concentrates on the issue of equality of opportunity and social class and Chapter 5 focuses on equality of educational opportunity as related to race, gender, and special needs. Chapter 6 is a new chapter on e diverse student population of U.S. schools. I have combined previous chapters on state and federal control into a new Chapter 9 titled "Power and Control the State and National Levels: Accountability, High-Stakes Testing, School Violence, the Reading and Math Wars, and Private Foundations." In addition, I have added a new section "The Internet and E-Learning" to Chapter 10.The following is a summary of these changes.