This is basically a collection of essays from various people who, I am assuming, were in the film. I opted not to see the movie and choose to read this because I thought this would be more comprehensive and less maudlin. I do have to admit however, that I feel like I am missing things in the conversation, so I will probably end up watching the movie anyway. I am hoping its still in the theaters.

The Organization For Economic Co-operation and Development recently came out with its ranking in Reading and Math for 15 year olds of their respective countries. Topping the list is China. Finland is number two if I remember correctly. Even Canada, a country Americans are fond of picking on ranks number 5, tied with Japan. Finland has consistently ranked high in education. It's interesting to note that this very country also ranks very low when it comes to the income gap between of it's people. Meanwhile, the US is somewhere in the 20's when it comes to reading, math and science. The lists by the way include about 25 to 30 countries only, so do the math.

I found the piece by Eric Hanushek to be enlightening. Since the 1960's our student to teacher ratios have gone down considerably and we are spending more on the education of each student as well. Despite this, the US still gets an F in education. The American populace(myself included) have been deluded by their politicians in thinking that throwing money at the problem will solve it. This is obviously not the case. Although we are graduating more students, the vast majority of those students should not be graduating, because they lack the skills to move onto the next levels of life, i.e. college, the labor market. The faulty idea of more is better and quantity over quality has deeply permeated the American system, much to its detriment.

I also enjoyed the essay of Eric Schwarz, cofounder and CEO of Citizen of Schools. There should be something said about the psychology of "play becomes work," that I saw in his tale. If your passionate about knowledge, and you want to help others actualize their potential you don't need to go out and get a teaching degree to do it. You don't need to be a teacher to teach. There are many ways of helping the system and it need not consume our lives. Michelle Rhee's piece shows that kids do want to learn, regardless of economic background. They just have to be put in the environment where this desire can blossom.

I did wonder, amid all these proposed solutions in this book, why we do not simply adopt the education systems of other countries with stellar education performances. The ideas presented will inevitably have to go through the process of trial and error. Why not just use what works? Seems the simplest and logical answer to me.

Coming from a family that did not value education, this book, it's contents are dear to me. When I think of all the time I have lost because I was not instilled with this desire for knowledge... To all those people who do not understand why they should be paying for the education of other people's kids, READ THIS BOOK.