Challenging the conservative political agenda for school reform, Dennis Carlson offers ideas for rethinking democratic progressive ideas in education given the new cultural conditions of a postmodern society. He explores what democratic education must be to meet the demands of learning to work in an "information age" and argues for the importance of sexuality education, detracking and multicultural education. The book attempts to reappropriate democratic progressive approaches to education consistent with dramatically new times that call for new ways of thinking about equity, freedom and community. Above all it demonstrates how public participation in educational debates contributes to a healthy and robust public school system for all students.