This examination of the inconsistencies between public education and democracy in America proposes "individual freedom of intellect and belief" through the educational empowerment of individual families and through government deregulation of school content. Following an introduction and information about the author, the book focuses on seven topic areas: (1) the question of educational quality and possible dangers implicit in recent recommendations made by the National Commission on Excellence in Education; (2) the risk of democracy, warning that an educational system inconsistent with democracy could destroy the ideals it was meant to preserve; (3) an historical look at fundamental aspects of American democracy and the individual conscience; (4) the reform of public schooling over the past 150 years, examining the theories of Horace Mann and John Dewey; (5) the theory that education cannot be value-neutral, challenging theorists, such as B. F. Skinner, who advocate the transformation of education into a purely objective science; (6) Thomas Jefferson's concept of a wall that should separate church and state, proposing that separation of school and state would preserve freedom of intellect and belief in much the same way that separation of church and state preserves religious freedom; and (7) proposals for a universal independent education in which the best features of both public and private sectors are combined. (LH)