As our nation comes ever closer to being “majority minority,” Americans will look increasingly to our education system to unite us. A natural impulse will be to force, or at least nudge, children from different ethnic, religious, or other backgrounds together in public schools. But physical proximity does not guarantee affinity or trust, and the question of how to structure education to maximize social cohesion has a complicated—and uncertain—answer. To get at that answer (and mark National School Choice Week), the Cato Institute will host Mike Petrilli, Richard Kahlenberg, Neal McCluskey, and Greg Toppo to debate how great a role the choices of parents and educators must have in order to maximize social harmony. For more information on this event, visit the Cato Institute’s web page.
