Educational policy and discussion, in Britain and the USA, are increasingly dominated by the confused ideology of egalitarianism. David E Cooper begins by identifying the principles hidden among the confusions, and argues that these necessarily conflict with the ideal of educational excellence - in which conflict it is this ideal that must be preserved. He goes on to criticize the use of education as a tool for promoting wider social equality, focussing especially on the muddles surrounding ''equal opportunities'', ''social mix'' and ''reverse discrimination''.
