Where Are the Books?

And, what about the computers?

By Jay Urwitz

A group of visitors is touring a high school in a down-at-the-heels Northern city. But the building seems in good repair, and the hallways are clean. We head into the 11th and 12th grade chemistry class, which has eight big, square lab tables with that black slate top that signals to all nonchemists that serious experiments are done here. In the center of each table are four to six good-looking chemistry texts. Hey, this doesn't look so bad.

Looks deceive.

That stack of books is a Potemkin village. The books cannot be taken out of class. The students have no others, and many don't have an Internet connection at home to get the lessons online. So teachers cannot assume that students have been able...