In this text US educators describe systems which will educate diverse populations in their customs and heritages, and transform schools into places of intellectual vitality with strong connection to their local social environment.

Public Schools That Work addresses the efforts of teachers, administrators and parents to develop alternative educational models capable of overcoming the alienation and intellectual disengagement that have become so common in American schools. Educators working in some of the best alternative elementary and secondary schools across the country recount their attempts to create systems which will educate diverse populations in their customs and heritages, involve parents and community leaders in decisions related to the life of their schools and involve students in their communities by encouraging participation in a variety of civic projects. By being rooted in their local social environment, these schools demonstrate the transformative potential of education to return power and authority to those individuals attempting to reconstruct and humanize the institutions within which they must learn and teach.

"The text is recommended for courses on educational change, restructuring, community relations, and educational policy and analysis. In addition, it makes a good addition as a reference and professional source for one's own library." -- Research and Reflection: A Journal of Educational Praxis