"Focusing on the era from the New Deal through the present, this book tells the story of how politicians, intellectuals, and other leaders in the United States emphasized investment in education through human capital at the expense of broader social democratic policies such as a jobs guarantee, union rights, and a robust social safety net"-- Provided by publisher.

From Independence to Security : Education and Democracy from the Nation's Founding -- To Secure These Rights : Education and the Unfinished Project of American Social Democracy -- Education's War on Poverty in the 1960s -- New Politics : Democrats and Opportunity in a Post-industrial Society -- "At Risk" : The Acceleration of the Education Myth -- "What you earn depends on what you learn" : Education Presidents, Education Governors, and Human Capital Rising -- Putting Some People First : The Total Ascendance of the Education Myth -- Left Behind : The Politics of Education Reform and Rise of the Creative Class -- Things Fall Apart : The Education Myth under Attack -- Epilogue : A Social Democratic Future?.