Access to fair and free public education is one of the cornerstones of American democracy. Yet, in many parts of the country, this ideal has only been realized in the twentieth century. As Thomas O'Brien argues, access to education in the state of Georgia has historically been restricted along the lines of race, class, and region. Black, poor, and rural students fared extremely poorly in the Jim Crow-era Georgia public school system as politically powerful groups fought to maintain a two-tier educational structure that favored their own children over those from the disadvantaged, voiceless...