America's urban schools have come under pressure for their racial segregation and for a rigid traditionalism which alienates many students. Magnet schools have been established in several cities to attack both of these problems with attractive innovative educational programs which are intended to draw students of different races as volunteers. This book explores the lives of three magnet schools in a large American city. Examples of how these schools were affected by community political struggles are discussed. The sources of each school's internal life are analyzed; each developed a distinctive character, though often one only loosely related to the formal design for education which it advertised to volunteering parents. The book traces the development of relationships between teachers and students, among staff, and among students of different races. As it analyzes the sources of these special magnet schools' character and their potentialities and limitations as tools to uproot entrenched patterns of educational practice, this book reveals the influences which shape students' experiences in all American schools. (JD)