The diverse school dilemma

For young middle-class families who are committed to living in a diverse, vibrant urban environment while contributing to the economic health of the city, the decision of where to send children to school is often fraught with conflict.  Do you send your kids to your neighborhood school which may be struggling with all the problems associated with large urban school districts like crowded classrooms, safety issues and fewer resources?   Or do you trade socioeconomic diversity for the less risky choice of a smaller charter school, a private school or a move to the suburbs?  Our guests, education policy researcher MICHAEL PETRILLI and Philadelphia author and education activist SOLOMON JONES both faced similar dilemmas.  Petrilli’s new book, The Diverse Schools Dilemma, is about his family’s decision and the pros and cons of socioeconomic ally mixed public schools. Jones frequently writes about the challenges of family life in his Newsworks.org blog, The Philadelphia Experiment, and in a weekly Daily News column.

Photo by Flickr user Bill McChesney