Chicago's magnet schools were one of the nation's earliest experiments in choice-driven school desegregation, originating among civil rights advocates and academic education experts in the 1960s and appearing at specific sites in Chicago's urban landscape during the 1970s. The specific concerns that motivated the creation of magnet schools during…

Summarizes the crises and calls for change from 1981-1988 within the Detroit (Michigan) school system that led to the creation of the HOPE (Hayden, Olmstead, and Patrick for Education) coalition. Discusses the years the HOPE coalition headed the school board and the reasons for its failure. Addresses the implications for other cities. (CMK)

Considers the state of the urban public education system in Chicago (Illinois). Addresses the effects of demographic and economic changes, the role of Benjamin Coppage Willis as superintendent of the Chicago schools, and the effects of inequality and plans for desegregation. (CMK)