This book is wonderfully unpredictable. Lieberman, having served as a union organizer, school board negotiator, schoolteacher, lobbyist, and university professor, is able to present key issues in K-12 education from perspectives that most have never considered. One chapter that focuses on perennial problems in education includes a discussion of compulsory education. This topic showcases Lieberman's ability to take breathtaking risks. He argues that if labor laws allowed for employment of 14-16-year-olds and those who left school could return without penalty, the benefits would include increased lifetime earnings for school leavers, added wages to Social Security, and more purposeful and less costly secondary schools--and higher education would have to do a better job demonstrating its economic value to prospective students. Lieberman's assessments of the charter school movement, the state of educational research, and education media are comprehensive and clear-eyed. He takes on the social justice agenda in schools of education and the impact of unionism on academic achievement in new and thoughtful ways. Initially, some of Lieberman's proposed policies seem outrageous; this reviewer found herself yearning for more policy makers who think creatively through the financial and political consequences of constant tinkering around the edges of school reform. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. General Readers; Upper-division Undergraduates; Graduate Students; Researchers/Faculty; Professionals/Practitioners. Reviewed by R. F. Subotnik. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.