This volume addresses the feasibility of operating small schools as the mainstay of the public school system. Research evidence indicates that small schools are associated with better student outcomes and that they make personal attention, academic focus, and experiential curricula possible. The premise that small schools are more expensive has always been false. No research evidence supports the claim that large schools of the sizes found in New York (1,500 to 4,000 students) achieve operational-cost efficiencies sufficient to justify their existence or to offset their educationally damaging inefficiencies. Studies show penalties of scale in large schools, and disproportionate increases in management costs. Small schools are economically feasible for New York City if barriers to change are overcome. Strategies are proposed for direct cost savings through restructuring and additional teacher involvement. Seventeen tables and two figures illustrate the discussion and provide cost figures. Five appendixes present additional detail, and a sixth comprises a 71-item bibliography. (Contains 46 references.) (SLD)