"Of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental. . . . The freedom to learn . . . has been bought by bitter sacrifice. And whatever we may think of the curtailment of other civil rights, we should fight to the last ditch to keep open the right to learn, the right to have examined in our schools not only what we believe but what we do not believe; not only what our leaders say, but what the leaders of other groups and nations, and the leaders of other centuries have said. We must insist upon this to give our children the fairness of a start which will equip them with such an array of facts and such an attitude toward truth that they can have a real chance to judge what the world is, and what its greater minds have thought it might be."

- W.E.B. Du Bois, "The Freedom to Learn" (1949)
In P.S. Foner (Ed.), W.E.B. Du Bois Speaks (pp. 230-231). New York: Pathfinder, 1970.

An Overview
An introduction by Linda Darling-Hammond about the trend toward smaller schools.

Research on Small Schools
A brief summary of what the research says is beneficial about small schools.

Why Factory-Model Schools Do Not Work
A sample from Linda Darling-Hammond's book The Right to Learn, explaining why the assembly line method of education doesn't work.

High School Students' Bill of Rights
A research-based vision for American secondary education from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.