When I Was Young, I Was Religious.

Apartheid Does Not Happen Spontaneously, Like Bad Weather Conditions.

Racial Segregation Has Come Back To Public Education With A Vengeance.

By Far The Most Important Factor In The Success Or Failure Of Any School, Far More Important Than Tests Or Standards Or Business-model Methods Of Accountability, Is Simply Attracting The Best-educated, Most Exciting Young People Into Urban Schools And Keeping Them There.

Many Of Us Regard Ourselves As Mildly Liberal Or Centrist Politically, Voice Fairly Pleasant Sentiments About Our Poor Children, Contribute Money To Send Poor Kids To Summer Camp, Feel Benevolent. We're Not Nazis; We're Nice People. We Read Sophisticated Books. We Go To Church. We Go To Synagogue. Meanwhile, We Put Other People's Children Into An Economic And Environmental Death Zone. We Make It Hard For Them To Get Out. We Strip The Place Bare Of Amenities. And We Sit Back And Say To Ourselves, "well, I Hope That They Don't Kill Each Other Off. But If They Do, It's Not My Fault.

I Write Books To Change The World. Perhaps I Can Only Change One Little Piece Of That World. But If I Can Empower Teachers And Good Citizens To Give These Children, Who Are The Poorest Of The Poor, The Same Opportunity We Give Our Own Kids, Then I'll Feel My Life Has Been Worth It.