A Fragile Enterprise recounts true stories from the front lines of the battlefield that U.S. public education has become in the struggle of the privileged few and the disenfranchised many, The stories tell how poor, minority, students with disabilities and non-English speaking students are short changed by schools that are not level playing fields, teachers who have ceased to care, and a system that seems willing to write off some students and their families as expendable. In A Fragile Enterprise you will learn about the national narrative of education from the viewpoint of students and their families: You will discover: *That despite the massive expenditure of public funds, large-scale national education improvement efforts have largely failed *That failing schools seldom have the resources and skills to implement the programs that are thrust upon them. *That the charter school solution leaves behind the students who need help the most. *How seldom families are involved in meaningful ways in the education of their children. *What the best teachers do and why they do it that way. The process of finding solutions must begin at the heart of the system, the unique, irreplaceable children we are privileged to educate.