Diverse school populations, desegregation and integration, minority-majority group splits, institutional racism, and the singularity of school norms are significant factors which affect respect for individual differences within urban schools. These facts illustrate the need for adoption of education that is multicultural to effect systematic change within the schools. Essential to this concept is a thorough understanding of the dyanamics of the school as a social system and careful use of planned change strategies for both inservice education and total school change. Equally important is the realization of the problems of the cities and the difficulties educators will encounter as they attempt to make substantive rather than cosmetic changes in schools. By using resistant elements constructively and by working cooperatively with all members of the school community, educators can enhance current plans for integration and initial attempts to make education multicultural, assuring that the time and effort already spent are worthwhile. Last, but perhaps most important, is the realization that the school can provide a vital link between the promises and problems of the urban environment. Multicultural education, whereby people learn to understand and respect each other, holds the hope for revitalizing our cities. (Author/MK)