Equality is one of the most widely-shared political values in
America - indeed, it is often thought of as the centerpiece of the
American Dream - and schools are the major institution in American
society charged with making good on our public commitment to
making equality happen.  Americans retain a high degree of public
confidence in the effectiveness of schools, despite a public mood at
present that is cynical about the state's ability to solve social
problems.  One of the outcomes of this combination of high public
confidence in education and commitment to schools as a vehicle of
equality is a strong commitment to equalizing educational
opportunities.  Yet there are deep divisions with the public about
how to do so:  Some advocate a further strengthening of the hand of
the state to ensure greater equality or quality in public education;
others believe government is the problem and advocate at least
partial privatization of the system.

In this course we will review American's commitment to social
equality and the role schooling presumably plays in achieving it.
We will read and discuss the existing research about the degree to
which education is responsible for existing social inequalities and
the degree to which schools can reduce inequalities. We will
consider the history of efforts to make schools more equal and the
success of those efforts.  And we will look carefully at a number of
current educational reform efforts that are promoted, as least in
part, as means of reducing educational inequality, including charter
schools, school vouchers, and school funding equalization.