Anyone who wants to know what is really happening in schools - behind all the hype and political rhetoric about the privatizing reforms in education - should read this book. It clarifies how private interests are influencing the public education process, and investigates Labour's successes and failures. These are critical moves for parents, teachers, school principals, head teachers and governors, student teachers, teaching assistants, researchers, administrators, government officials, politicians, taxpayers and in fact anyone interested in the future of education. In plain English, it shows how schools are set up, run and held to account through testing and inspection and how they make judgements about the relative merits of different schools' performances. It also indicates ways in which ordinary people can participate in shaping the future of education in order to achieve progress and better standards of achievement from schools and the education service generally. This is essential reading for all those concerned about the new future of our education system and of our children.