In this book, Kirp focused on the politics of the pre-K education and early childcare movements in the US. Since the book was mostly about the current state of these efforts as of 2006, it was not particularly relevant in 2012. Most of the second half of the book would need an update -- and I would not be surprised if many parts were no longer at all true (since one of the big sticking points in these movements was funding, and between 2006 and now, we've had a recession.)

The most interesting parts of the book were the chapters on the economics of pre-K education (very effective if well done), a brief overview how brain development supports early education (rapid early brain development is something to take advantage of, but it's not a now or never opportunity), and all too brief overviews of what makes for good pre-K education (hint: it's encouraging them to learn rather than drilling them to learn certain things).

Overall, an interesting read, but there are probably better resources ( )