When the five-member Board of the Alameda Unified School District selected Kirsten Vital as the new superintendent in 2009, they chose someone from outside their tight-knit community. Board Trustee Margie Sherratt thought Vital was chosen to "get us moving," to be a change agent on closing the achievement gap. Vital, in her initial…

Although few would dispute the idealistic merits of providing rights to the handicapped, how many, in this time of limited funds, will eagerly invest in disabled students? Our social perspectives on the common good are going to be tested against practical economics. (Part of a theme issue on mainstreaming.) (Author/SJL)