ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the elements of comprehensive education that have proven to be the missing component in the myriad of efforts being made to achieve equity in education. Comprehensive education is defined as the formal and informal learning and developmental enrichment opportunities provided for students outside of school and beyond the regular school day or year. Without demeaning the importance of adequate and appropriate school resources, comprehensive education and family resource centers place emphasis on those educative experiences and resources that are accessed through the families and communities from which students come. Programs offered by Comprehensive Education Resource Centers are informed by a public health approach to education. Schools carry our society's major communal and public institutional responsibility for the education of our next generation. Strengthening community infrastructure for families and parent surrogates is a critical component of supplementary education.
