[gfmucci]

My wife had been in a variety of schools, including a 3500 student high school - her office was adjacent to school security where offenders were processed. There were nightmare scenarios. And this was not a ghetto school - it was a N. Virginia suburb school. I have known several school planners in my profession. I am a student of human behavior.

Thanks for linking to a great article. I would presume upper middle class students would tend to have more involved parents and kids with better self-esteem prior to entering a mega-sized school. Consequently they are better able to cope with the mass of same-aged peers in their socialization process.

But let's ask ourselves: What socio-economic class of students do MOST public schools serve? Affluent, upper middle class? Absolutely not. They serve primarily lower through middle class students.

Just by definition, then, the great majority of students in this nation range from lower through middle class. By deduction, therefore, smaller schools would be best for the majority of public school students.

It is a reasonable premise that a smaller scale school environment with a greater adult to student ratio, and less "non-directed" peer pressure among students would provide a better learning environment as well as a better socialization process for the majority of students. Unfortunately, the inertia of most modern school systems and the penny wise/pound foolish attitudes of many school constituents places cost savings and economies of scale ahead of education.