Introduction

Education has gradually become one of the premier public policy issues in the United States. This has occurred in the presence of both hope and despair. The hope stems from the long held faith that education can solve the nation’s social problems. Unemployment, drug use, unwanted teenage pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases are all problems that seem amenable to amelioration in our public schools. The despair stems from evidence that suggests that just when the need for better education is being most keenly felt, our schools are failing.