Going Public

Surveying the history of American public education and the current disputes over the curriculum, Renyi offers sensible advice to reformers. Director of Collaboratives for Humanities and Arts Teaching in Philadelphia, she suggests that many educators downplay class issues, pointing out that we are attempting to ``educate a social class that has never in history been educated before.'' She criticizes policies that ignore bilingualism and relegate the teaching of foreign languages to the teen years. Wading into the battle over multiculturalism, Renyi takes a middle road, finding fault with the self-aggrandizement of both traditional assimilationists and their opponents. She suggests that effective schooling will acknowledge the multiple stories that make up our history. Her exhortation to ``trust the children'' and the collective decisions of their community implies a much broader civic involvement in education than currently exists. (Feb.)