In the land of the free who controls schools? Peter Curran travels across the Midwest to investigate, meeting the communities who are fighting for influence over the education system. In Nebraska, Peter visits a one-room school house with 11 pupils. The teacher here is very much in control and even designs her own exams. Peter then speaks to the state's only black senator, Ernie Chambers, who is trying to give Omaha's black community more control over their children's education. Heading south to Kansas, Peter investigates the most divisive subject in American education, religion. He meets religious teachers who explain how they attempt to subvert rules that say God must stay out of the classroom. Finally, Peter visits Milwaukee where a school voucher programme is giving parents the option to use state funding to pay for private education.

Video Series: Education USA
Release Date 2007