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Are "good enough" schools really "good"? A veteran education journalist probes the issues affecting schools today, and offers ideas for going beyond the status quo.

In the movie Jerry Maguire, the famed sports agent played by Tom Cruise stays up all night to write a "mission statement" based on his experiences in the business. Likewise, education reporter John Merrow--on the occasion of his 25-year anniversary as an award-winning education reporter--cranked out what he calls a "whimsical memo" of his own arguments and strategies for improving public education.

In both, Merrow--known best for his work on PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and The Merrow Report--examines why too many schools in America are just "good enough," a term he uses to describe schools that are neither excellent nor bad, but the ones that we accept even though we know that our children deserve better.

Using keen observation skills honed from more than two decades in the field, Merrow succinctly captures a wide range of issues affecting the social and academic climate of schools today, including high-stakes testing, technology, school safety, charter schools, zero-tolerance policies, the growing and alarming number of children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, and more.

Always spirited and sometimes edgy, his points are fueled by stirring and sometimes heartbreaking stories of real teachers and children he's met over the years. Add to that expert testimony from education leaders and meticulous, current research that's anything but boring and the result is a thought-provoking call for change.

At times, the book reads like a fast-moving education debate that Merrow is moderating on television. When he presents two views on the merits of alternative certification, for example, he effectively juxtaposes quotes from Stanford University's Linda Darling-Hammond and Chester Finn, an assistant secretary of education under Ronald Reagan.

In fact, his use of quotes throughout the book from noted educators--including Lisa Delpit, author of Other People's Children; E.D. Hirsch, Jr., the founder of the Core Knowledge school reform program; and Deborah Meier, vice-chair of the Coalition of Essential Schools--transports the reader into a seemingly real roundtable discussion among some of this country's most respected education experts.

Merrow also uses powerful yet simple metaphors to drive his themes home, comparing current efforts to "fix" the teacher shortage to fixing a leaking swimming pool, and contrasting charter school choice to selecting a restaurant. This refreshing style makes Merrow's points easy to understand, even for the education jargon-impaired.

Perhaps the most unique and useful aspect of the book is the list of thought-provoking questions posed at the end of each chapter to help concerned educators and parents explore current behaviors and strategies at their schools.

If asked and answered honestly, these questions will help readers uncover the real policies and practices in place at their local school or district.

The book provides a brutally honest portrayal of education today. It's almost a comprehensive guide on how to think about schools: a unique combination of up-to-date facts, researched opinion, practical tips, and critical evaluation questions that will prove useful to parents, educators, and others determined to push and pull the system beyond "good enough."

Excerpt:
"We desperately need to get beyond all the talk about education that claims to be 'standards-based, brain-based, child-centered, site-centered, teacher-tested, results-oriented, business-backed, community-based, teacher-proof, gender neutral, Web-based, and family friendly.' My eyes glaze over when I hear any of those expressions ... hackneyed expressions create a fog around the enterprise and keep us from having honest discussions about the goals of schooling."

In education, we often complain when we don't get the right answers. Well, this book exposes us to the right questions.

John Merrow, a veteran education reporter and producer on public television, has created a strategy to look not only at the major topics of the day--technology, school safety, testing and charter schools, among them--but he also poses penetrating questions that go to the core of these issues.

His premise is that there are three kinds of schools: bad ones, excellent ones and those that are "good enough." His questions are designed to assist educators, parents and others to move the system beyond good enough.

Merrow handles the chapter on safety particularly well. While our nation has been obsessed with physical safety, the author focuses on the issues of emotional and intellectual safety, contending they too must be addressed by schools and school systems. On this point, he states, "Excellent schools are emotionally and intellectually safe. They welcome honest mistakes and encourage intellectual curiosity." This expansive definition of safety is a wonderful approach.