This book investigates how middle-class parents, teachers, and administrators navigate and rationalize the mechanisms of school advantage to maintain social class reproduction. Ellen Brantlinger, a professor of special education, utilizes a critical, interpretive framework to analyze how affluent mothers and school personnel justify unequal educational outcomes. By examining the micro-level interactions within school systems, the author argues that middle-class values often prioritize individual advancement over democratic, communitarian educational goals.

Experts in sociology and education frequently cite this text as a foundational study on the intersection of parental privilege and institutional inequality. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous look at the systemic barriers to equitable schooling.