"A thoughtful and accurate work of scholarship that eschews ideology in discussing pressing needs of American education."-E. D. Hirsch "Any national curriculum proposal that fails to recognize our pluralism and conflicts along with our common commitments surely will be rejected by many Americans as a distorted portrayal of the national character and experience. That is, public education must repsond both ... Read moreto E. D. Hirsch's sensible claim that we need a common knowledge base in order to communicate and to Stanley Fish's critical observation that "it is difference all the way down." This book outlines the first principles of a national curriculum mindful of both insights."-Toni Marie Massaro, from the introduction "At last an analysis of educational policy and reform that does not begin with a polarizing and caricaturing polemic. This landmark study illustrates with marvelous concision and admirable clarity the intractable complexity of issues that others have reduced to soundbites."-Stanley Fish Show Less