ABSTRACT
Fischer Elementary School in New Orleans is surrounded by three things. It is surrounded by a chain-link fence which encloses a two-story un-airconditioned building, a bare rectangular slab of blacktop used as a playground, and walls covered with the graffiti that symbolizes the contorted and complex world of its neighborhood. Beyond the fence, it is surrounded by a public housing development which is home to almost 5000 people, where the unemployment and functional illiteracy rates both approach 80%. Finally, Fischer is surrounded by a sea of indifference. It is after all a place where ‘they’ live; and if ‘they’ would just change, ‘they’ wouldn’t have to live there any longer. Notably, it is this kind of school and this kind of neighborhood that presents urban America with its biggest challenge. That challenge exists not only for those who live there but for every city where such neighborhoods are reproduced.
