Fraser argues that advocates of the public schools must recapture and redefine democracy so that it becomes both the purpose of public education and the model on which schools are structured.

Defending an inclusive understanding of democracy, in which every citizen's contribution is essential to the health of the whole, Fraser responds to mean-spirited attacks on multicultural education, on school funding, and on progressive education itself. Finally, he explores the democratic and antidemocratic potential in increased use of computers in schools and in the reform of teacher education.

This is a book for teachers, parents, and other concerned citizens who care about public education, who want schools to be democratic in the best sense, and who seek ammunition for defending schools and for placing school issues in the larger context of the long struggle for a more just and humane society.