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Dreams and realities.

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THE AMERICAN DREAM AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BY JENNIFER HOCHSCHILD AND NATHAN SCOVRONICK * OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS * 301 PAGES * $35.00

BENEATH ALL THE CONTROVERSIES that roll America's public schools--bilingual education, school choice, inclusion of children with disabilities, alternative approaches to instruction, and so on--is there one fundamental conflict and one master key? The political scientists Jennifer Hochschild and Nathan Scovronick think so. In their new book, they claim that the crux of America's education debate is a conflict between individual and collective goals. The individual goal, they say, is to give each child the chance "to make whatever I want of my life," limited only by talent and hard work--in short, the ability to achieve one's "dreams." The collective goal is that the schools enable all children to "achieve their dreams."

The trouble, according to the authors, is that in a competitive world, each child's success depends on others being less successful, and influential parents want to keep a thumb on the scales to ensure their children's advantage even when other children are equally talented and hardworking. America fails to realize the dream for all because of the competitive advantage that some children gain from growing up in privileged families.

The dilemma is...

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