Free public education was a grand experiment proposed in the mid 1800s by progressive politicians who believed it would increase the growth and development of an educated citizenry and strengthen the nation's democracy. They were right. Public education in the United States became the warp and weft of the nation's culture and economic success.

Today, confidence in public education has been damaged by politicians and the financial interests that support them. Now, schools are dramatically underfunded while being blamed for a myriad of social and economic failures.

Drawing on her experiences as a student and a teacher, Helen Johnson repudiates the attacks on public schools and sheds light on the remarkable successes borne from the United States' education system.