Producer David E. Kelley previously has dissected doctors, private eyes, small-town America and all manner of lawyers. Now he’s turned his sites to public education.

“Boston Public,” debuting at 8 tonight on Fox, looks at life at Winslow High, a midsize high school in Boston.

The show follows Winslow’s teachers and administrators as they deal with day-to-day crises that erupt within the hallowed halls of education.

Riding herd over Winslow is Steven Harper (“Chi McBride,” “The John Larroquette Show”), the no-nonsense principal, who’s ably assisted by Scott Guber (Anthony Heald), the litigation-minded, intense vice principal.

Standouts among the cast of teachers are Emmy winner Fyvush Finkel (“Picket Fences”) as ancient, out-of-step history teacher Harvey Lipschultz, and Loretta Devine (“Waiting to Exhale”) as beleaguered special-education teacher Marla Hendricks, who often finds sanity in a bottle of medication.

The series is told from the adults’ point of view, so the students in the show end up more types than individuals. But it’s impossible to tell everybody’s story.

“Boston Public” promises to tackle education hot buttons such as athletics vs. academics, computerized cheating, fingerprinting of teachers, politicians out of touch with the classroom and revisionist history. As always, when Kelley has a point to make, he’s never mealy-mouthed or boring.

It’s good to see Kelley, a Waterville native, is back in fine form after last season’s misstep, “Snoops.” He’s also being aided by co-executive producer Jonathan Pontell, who comes aboard after three years in charge of the now fading “Ally McBeal.”

“Boston Public” isn’t quite as quirky as some of Kelley’s other projects, such as “Picket Fences” or the early “Ally McBeal.” Some may even argue that’s a good thing. But it’s still an entertaining, insightful drama, much better than the other network options in its timeslot: derivative sitcoms on CBS and NBC and yet another “20/20” on ABC.