Enrollment pressures are weak in inner cities, suburban areas show short-term growth, and many of the nation's 81,000 public high schools are in the wrong places. The Internet and newer technologies will not diminish the need for buildings. Carnegie units and the general education track are passe. (MLH)

Cites demographic figures showing that U.S. children are an endangered species. Educators alone cannot "fix" the problems of education, because dealing with poverty's root causes must involve health care, housing, transportation, job training, and social welfare bureaucracies. The United States has the resources, if not the will, to reduce the…

This companion piece to a 1997 article examines United States demographic trends, such as diversity by age, "race" and U.S. Census racial classifications, wealth, transiency, suburbanization and sprawl, and immigration, focusing on differences among states and metro regions. Nothing, including achievement scores, social services, and…