Eileen Gale Kugler
2002
This book represents the plea of a mother and advocate (who also happens to be a communications specialist) to other parents, urging them to seek out "diverse schools" for their children. Kugler recommends this course of action based largely on her own experience raising two children who attended a large "diverse" high school in Fairfax County, Virginia. According to Kugler, "The academic and personal growth of my children was staggering in this school with students hailing from more than 85 countries, speaking more than 40 native languages." Kugler believes that similar experiences should become the norm for all kids. For children in wealthy suburbs (according to the 2000 Census, Fairfax's median household income is $91,000, the highest in America) of major metropolitan areas, that option may be real and appealing. I say this as a resident of Fairfax County and someone who values the diversity to be found in my neighborhood, the local schools, restaurants, business and cultural scene. Having grown up in a small Midwestern city, however, I know that such diversity is not the norm in much of America. That reality seems not to matter to Kugler, for whom attending a diverse school matters more than attending an effective school. The biggest problem with this book is what happens if you try and take Kugler's logic and apply it to policy. Should communities seek formulas for making schools "diverse," and then bus children across town to make certain the proper "balance" exists in every school? This has been tried in the recent past and caused far more problems than it solved. A better option is to improve all schools while providing all parents - rich and poor - with real choices as to which schools their children can attend. If you want to know more about this misguided book, go to: http://www.scarecroweducation.com.
