The book is an examination of education from the inside. It is rooted in a four-year project in which I returned to high school and wrote about 100 columns published in The Kansas City Star from studying with the Class of 1999 at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kan. A teacher's cry for attention to what takes place in an urban school led to the project. This book would appeal to educators, teachers colleges, parents, businesses and community groups. The book is broken into teachable moments pulled from the columns. The manuscript insists that community involvement in the schools and in the classrooms is how education can best be improved. Journalists and schools of journalism also would benefit from the book because it teaches a different way of covering education. The book attacks the No Child Left Behind Act and underscores how public education must be the No. 1 concern in this election year. Platitudes are not enough.