Public Will, POlitical Context, And Public Education

By Norm Fruchter

When opinion polls report increasing loss of faith in American public education, the public's perception of the failure of city schools is often the primary cause. Yet city schools are doing better than at any time since urban public systems were reorganized on factory models in the early 20th century. Most urban school systems graduate at least half their entering students, and significant numbers of those graduates (perhaps 30 percent?) leave with more than 8th-grade basic skills, which means they can gain admission to college, matriculate without having to take remedial courses, and have a decent shot at graduating from college with reasonable employment prospects within...