"The proliferating contests between the law and the family regarding the education of children is the subject of this report and analysis. . . [Arons] presents data on censorship of curriculum and libraries across the U.S.; the challenge of home education to institutional schooling and the discontent of various subcultures with governmental regulation. These destructive struggles are traced to compulsory education laws and political uses of the schools. Arons proposes that majority rule silences dissent, restricts freedom of expression and makes schooling in America a peculiar institution. Deeply thought out, this important inquiry into our national educational dilemma speaks with a serious voice to our educators and legislators."—Publishers Weekly "Forceful and provocative. . . . those who share Jefferson's concern that the mass of people should continue to control their own destinies would do well to accept Arons' challenge to examine critically how our schools can best serve the dual purpose of instilling shared community values and promoting the diversity of thought that vitalizes the process by which we determine what values we share."—Michigan Law Review "A licid, cogent, and penetrating statement of the problem raised by the tension between individual liberty of conscience and an authoritarian public school system."—Milton Friedman "Surely one of the more provocative, thoughtful, and imaginative books on public education in years."—Ira Glasser "Compelling Belief is compelling reading."—Norman Lear