| Foreword | |
| 1 | The money myth - "schools perform poorly because they need more money" | 7 |
| 2 | The special ed myth - "special education programs burden pubic schools, hindering their academic performance" | 21 |
| 3 | The myth of helplessness - "social problems like poverty cause students to fail; schools are helpless to prevent it" | 39 |
| 4 | The class size myth - "schools should reduce class sizes; small classes would produce big improvements" | 49 |
| 5 | The certification myth - "certified or more experienced teachers are substantially more effective" | 59 |
| 6 | The teacher pay myth - "teachers are badly underpaid" | 71 |
| 7 | The myth of decline - "schools are performing much worse than they used to" | 87 |
| 8 | The graduation myth - "nearly all students graduate from high school" | 95 |
| 9 | The college access myth - "nonacademic barriers prevent a lot of minority students from attending college" | 105 |
| 10 | The high stakes myth - "the results of high-stakes tests are not credible because they're distorted by cheating and teaching to the test" | 117 |
| 11 | The push-out myth - "exit exams cause more students to drop out of high school" | 127 |
| 12 | The accountability burden myth - "accountability systems impose large financial burdens on schools" | 135 |
| 13 | The inconclusive research myth - "the evidence on the effectiveness of vouchers is mixed and inconclusive" | 147 |
| 14 | The exeter myth - "private schools have higher test scores because they have more money and recruit high-performing students while expelling low-performing students" | 157 |
| 15 | The draining myth - "school choice harms public schools" | 167 |
| 16 | The disabled need not apply myth - "private schools won't serve disabled students" | 179 |
| 17 | The democratic values myth - "private schools are less effective at promoting tolerance and civic participation" | 191 |
| 18 | The segregation myth - "private schools are more racially segregated than public schools" | 201 |