Divided We Fail takes a fresh look at how to promote equality and achievement in education, and offers a plan to improve both through economic integration of America’s public schools. The Century Foundation Task Force on the Common School commissioned research which indicates that schools are becoming increasingly segregated by economic status. These findings are consistent with other disturbing reports observing resegregation of schools by race. The Task Force recommendations of integration through public school choice, rather than forced busing, are based on lessons learned from programs in Wisconsin, Missouri, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. The report also addresses why integration through public school choice is more promising than current strategies such as testing and vouchers.

Click on the links below to read sections of the report:

• Report of The Century Foundation Task Force on the Common School (PDF) (pp. 1-60)
• La Crosse: One School District's Drive to Create Socioeconomic Balance (PDF)
• Wake County Schools: A Question of Balance (PDF)
• Controlled Choice in Cambridge, Massachusetts (PDF)
• St. Louis: Desegregation and School Choice in the Land of Dred Scott (PDF)