A very thought-provoking look at how an over-emphasis on standardized testing and school choice has caused great harm to the American school system. I already knew about how the emphasis on testing, which became tied to teacher accountability and school survival, was a huge problem because it only can give tiny snap-shots and encourages cheating in order to get the numbers up rather than actually educating. But I'd always assumed that having school choice through charter schools or vouchers would create healthy competition. But this book points out that while competition for customers works in economics, it isn't as good with education. School and learning is about cooperation, and this is actually leaving the students worse off as already-privileged and motivated student go to other schools, leaving the public schools with everyone else, which makes it look like the public schools are failing. (I also did not know that charter schools are supported in part by public funds; I'd always assumed they were privately funded like Catholic schools.) The book doesn't offer a panacea, and in fact warns against it. Education is a complex thing and there are no simple, short term solutions. It's just a shame that at least two generations of kids will suffer for these experiments. Very interesting read for anyone interested in the debate over public education and the role of the state and government in schools.