This well-written and revealing book documents political conflict about schooling in California during the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on sex education and bilingual programs. Much of this ground has been traversed in other studies, but Petrzella illuminates the shifting political terrain that made these issues so potent. Hers is a telling account of how schooling became a partisan enterprise, especially as educators widened the purview of their curricular and extracurricular aims.
From the standpoint of methodology and perspective, Petrzella offers a predominantly conventional account. Much of the narrative concerns the views and activities of organizations and political figures in the educational system. Despite its title, the book features scant attention to actual classrooms. It contains engaging discussions of particular communities, and chapters devoted to San Mateo, San Jose, and Anaheim, but this material is also concerned primarily with key organizations and activists. Petrzella shows little interest in any relevant theoretical...