Over a decade ago, the first edition of City Schools and the American Dream debuted just as reformers were gearing up to make sweeping changes in urban education. Despite the rhetoric and many reform initiatives, urban schools continue to struggle under the weight of serious challenges. What went wrong and is there hope for future change? More than a new edition, this sequel to the original bestseller has been substantially revised to include insights from new research, recent demographic trends, and emerging political realities. In addition to surveying the various limitations that urban schools face, the book also highlights programs, communities, and schools that are making good on public education's promise of equity. With renewed commitment and sense of urgency, this new edition provides a clear-eyed vision of what it will take to ensure the success of city schools and their students.Book Features: Surveys persistent and emerging challenges in urban education. Synthesizing the latest education research in a way that is accessible to a wide audience, including teachers, students, administrators, parents, and community partners. Focuses on solutions, highlighting new developments and opportunities for achieving educational equity despite ongoing political challenges. Incorporates research from co-author Esa Syeed's extensive study of school reform and community engagement in Washington, DC.

Fresh Insight on Racial Dynamics and Academic Achievement in Schools

"Unfinished Business illuminates the challenges in overcoming the current inequities in public education. Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, this book exposes a 'tale of two schools' where students walk through the same high school doors but remain racially and academically segregated within--a condition mirrored in urban schools and districts across the nation. The authors offer a hopeful, yet urgent, call to invest in youth on the front side of life and to hold fast to the vision of a future where all children can truly learn, achieve, and dream to their highest potential."
--Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., president and founder, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition

"It should concern us deeply as scholars, policymakers, and practitioners that at one of our nation's best schools--one that is deemed as 'working' and highly successful according to official accounts--children's destinies are no less circumscribed by race and class. This book contains a clear wake-up call in its masterful account of deep and abiding commitments to educational equity."
--Angela Valenzuela, Haskew Centennial Professor, Department of Curriculum & Instruction and Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas at Austin

"It's a powerful experience to immerse oneself in this book. The many voices of teachers--and even of kids and families--reveal that many inequities remain hidden in our schools. Unfinished Business shows that there's work to be done, and provokes us into thinking more deeply about answers."
--Deborah Meier, senior scholar, New York University, and founding principal of Central Park East schoolsin Harlem and Mission Hill in Roxbury

At a time of bitter national polarization, there is a critical need for leaders who can help us better communicate with one another. In A Search for Common Ground, Rick Hess and Pedro Noguera, who have often fallen on opposing sides of the ideological aisle over the past couple of decades, candidly talk through their differences on some of the toughest issues in K-12 education today-from school choice to testing to diversity to privatization. They offer a sharp, honest debate that digs deep into their disagreements, enabling them to find a surprising amount of common ground along the way. Written as a series of back-and-forth exchanges, this engaging book illustrates a model of responsible, civil debate between those with substantial, principled differences. It is also a powerful meditation on where 21st-century school improvement can and should go next. Book Features: Modeling dialogue: Rick and Pedro provide a model for how to sort through complicated issues and find common ground in today's atmosphere of distrust. Deliberate, sustained exchange: Rick and Pedro demonstrate how deliberate, sustained reflection allows them to respectfully flesh out differences and sharpen their own thoughts. Left and Right Politics: Rick (generally Right) and Pedro (generally Left) offer a window into where they do and don't agree on education and point the way to principled cooperation. Readable and conversational: Rather than pushing a partisan agenda, Rick and Pedro have crafted a stimulating read for education newcomers and experts alike. Unique approach: While other books about the different sides of the education debates simply present paired essays, Rick and Pedro actually engage with each other to strive for a deeper understanding of their differences.

At a time of bitter national polarization, there is a critical need for leaders who can help us better communicate with one another. In A Search for Common Ground, Rick Hess and Pedro Noguera, who have often fallen on opposing sides of the ideological aisle over the past couple of decades, candidly talk through their differences on some of the toughest issues in K-12 education today-from school choice to testing to diversity to privatization. They offer a sharp, honest debate that digs deep into their disagreements, enabling them to find a surprising amount of common ground along the way. Written as a series of back-and-forth exchanges, this engaging book illustrates a model of responsible, civil debate between those with substantial, principled differences. It is also a powerful meditation on where 21st-century school improvement can and should go next. Book Features: Modeling dialogue: Rick and Pedro provide a model for how to sort through complicated issues and find common ground in today's atmosphere of distrust. Deliberate, sustained exchange: Rick and Pedro demonstrate how deliberate, sustained reflection allows them to respectfully flesh out differences and sharpen their own thoughts. Left and Right Politics: Rick (generally Right) and Pedro (generally Left) offer a window into where they do and don't agree on education and point the way to principled cooperation. Readable and conversational: Rather than pushing a partisan agenda, Rick and Pedro have crafted a stimulating read for education newcomers and experts alike. Unique approach: While other books about the different sides of the education debates simply present paired essays, Rick and Pedro actually engage with each other to strive for a deeper understanding of their differences.

In this new volume, Michael A. Pagano curates essays focusing on the neighborhood's role in urban policy solutions. The papers emerged from dynamic discussions among policy makers, researchers, public intellectuals, and citizens at the 2014 UIC Urban Forum. As the writers show, the greater the city, the more important its neighborhoods and their distinctions. The topics focus on sustainable capital and societal investments in people and firms at the neighborhood level. Proposed solutions cover a range of possibilities for enhancing the quality of life for individuals, households, and neighborhoods. These include everything from microenterprises to factories; from social spaces for collective and social action to private facilities; from affordable housing and safety to gated communities; and from neighborhood public education to cooperative, charter, and private schools. Contributors: Andy Clarno, Teresa Cordova, Nilda Flores-Gonzalez, Pedro A. Noguera, Alice O'Connor, Mary Pattillo, Janet Smith, Nik Theodore, Elizabeth S. Todd-Breland, Stephanie Truchan, and Rachel Weber.