The Urban School: A Factory for Failure

Americans worry continually about their schools with frequent discussions of the crisis in American education, of the failures of the public school systems, and of the inability of schools to meet the current challenges of contemporary life. What is not new is that such concerns date back at least to the nineteenth century, if not longer. A thread that weaves its way through the critiques of American elementary and secondary schools is that the educational system is not serving its children well, that more should be done to enhance achievement and higher performance. These critiques first began when the United States was industrializing and were later amplified when the Soviets and Japan were thought to be grinding down the competitive position of America. At the start of the twenty-first as we discuss globalization and maintaining our leadership position in the world economy they are being heard again.