All Together Now: Creating Middle-Class Schools through Public School Choice

by Richard D. Kahlenberg

This provocative book asks a simple since we know that middle class schools tend to work best, why not give every child in America the opportunity to attend a public school in which the majority of students come from middle class households? Economically integrated schools, the author argues, will do far more to promote achievement and equal opportunity than vouchers, standards, class size reduction, or any of the other leading education proposals on the left and right that seek to make "separate but equal" schools work. Building on two recent education trends—the decline in racial desegregation as a legal tool and the movement toward greater public school choice—All Together Now provides a blueprint for creating schools that educate children from various backgrounds under one roof. Concurring with the concerns of voucher proponents about the unfairness of trapping poor kids in failing schools, the book provides a practical, viable, and legally sound plan for promoting economic and racial integration among public schools.

406 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Paige Brewer]

Love the points made about socioeconomic integration, the Coleman report, and the Hidden Curriculum. Quite convincing arguments.