By the mid-twentieth century, the public comprehensive high school was often regarded as the most democratic form of secondary education. Fifty years later it was under challenge. New educational markets emphasized school diversity and parental choice rather than social equity through common schooling. The comprehensives faced many criticisms, including the decline of their educational standards. This book traces the history of this decline, attending to the relationships between government education policies and their diverse regional manifestations. This book begins with an introduction and is divided into five parts: (1) Origins of the Comprehensive High School; (2) Social and Political Contexts; (3) The Social Justice Era; (4) The Comprehensive High in an Education Market; and (5) Embattlement and Survival.