How the story of NYC's schools contain lessons for other cities.

City Schools brings together a distinguished group of researchers and educators for an in-depth look at the nation's largest school system. Topics covered include the changing demographics of city schools, the impending teacher shortage, reading instruction, special education, bilingual education, school governance, charter schools, choice, school finance reform, and the role of teacher unions. City Schools also provides fresh and fascinating perspectives on Catholic schools, Jewish day schools, and historically black independent schools.

Diane Ravitch, Joseph P. Viteritti, and their coauthors explore pedagogical, institutional, and policy issues in an urban school system whose challenges are those of American urban education writ large. The authors conclude that we know a lot more about how to provide effective educational services for a diverse population of urban school children than performance data would suggest.

Contributors: Dale Ballou, University of Massachusetts, Amherst • Stephan F. Brumberg, Brooklyn College • Mary Beth Celio, University of Washington • Gail Foster, Toussaint Institute • Michael Heise, Case Western University • Clara Hemphill, Public Education Association • Paul T. Hill, University of Washington • William G. Howell, Harvard University • Pearl Rock Kane, Columbia University • Frank J. Macchiarola, Saint Francis College • Melissa Marschall, University of South Carolina • Thomas Nechyba, Duke University • Paul E. Peterson, Harvard University • Christine Roch, Georgia State University • Christine H. Rossell, Boston University • Marvin Schick, Avi Chai Foundation • Mark Schneider, SUNY, Stony Brook • Lee Stuart, South Bronx Churches • Paul Teske, SUNY, Stony Brook • Emanuel Tobier, New York University • Joanna P. Williams, Columbia University

Diane Ravitch is Research Professor in the School of Education at New York University and holds the Herman and George R. Brown Chair in Education Studies at the Brookings Institution. She was an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education, and she serves on the National Assessment Governing Board. Her publications include Learning from the Past: What History Teaches Us about School Reform; and The Great School Wars: New York City, 1805-1973, both available from Johns Hopkins, and Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms (forthcoming). Joseph P. Viteritti is Research Professor of Public Administration at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He has served as a special assistant to the chancellor of the New York City public school system and as a senior advisor to the school superintendents in Boston and San Francisco. His publications include Across the River: Politics and Education in the City and Choosing Equality: School Choice, the Constitution, and Civil Society. The editors co-chair the Program on Education and Civil Society at New York University.