This book examines the current school reform debate as a product of tension between elitist and egalitarian goals for education. Chapter 1, "Making Choices," reviews issues in the current debate and provides a general outline of the book's argument. Chapter 2, "The Mission of Schooling," analyzes the reform debate in the context of resurgent conservatism and faults the Right for its application of competitive structures of achievement, modeled on and serving the economic marketplace, to schooling issues. Chapter 3, "Three Myths of School Performance," criticizes the Right's emphasis on meritocracy, its opposition to reform on the basis of equity, and its belief that national economic growth and individual mobility are contingent on raising standards. Chapter 4, "School Practice: Ingredients of Effective Instruction," reviews approaches to revising classroom and instructional practices. Chapter 5, "School Constituents: Directions for Change" focuses on voucher or optional enrollment systems, the effective schools movement, community-based literacy campaigns, and youth service programs. Chapter 6, "Governance and Funding: Toward Progressive Federalism," proposes a model for altering the role of each level of government to promote the redistribution of resources and power in school institutions. Chapter 7, "Building a New Agenda," summarizes the argument against elitism and describes some successful local citizens' movements. (KH)