In 1983, we were declared a nation at risk. Now, over a decade later the declaration seems to ring even more true, but for different reasons. Our communities have become killing fields, and the assassins that stalk our streets are our children. We sit frozen in horror as the daily news bombards us with the images of children murdering other children and adults for the thrill of it, as a rite of initiation, as an act of racial hatred, for profit, (...) and in anger and retaliation. (shrink)

In 1965, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey addressing the White House Conference on Education stated that our country would go down in history for havin used its educational system to overcome problems of illiteracy, unemployment, crime and violence, urban decay, and even war among nations. Yet, within a few years cries from concerned citizens questioned the ability of the schools to even teach children how to read and write.