To solve overcrowding problems, schools have just added rooms to existing buildings and have created bigger schools in the process. He believes it may be time to reconsider this approach, because the bigger schools have larger bureaucracies that separate the main office from students and teachers. He says the ideal school is small enough to be sensitive to the students and teachers who work there and is an institution that reflects its seriousness of purpose in the facilities. It also needs sufficient resources like books, computers and televisions so that it is plugged into what's going on in education. Finally, he believes that the relationship of schools to social services is vitally important today because of the social unrest in so many cities.
Many students come from fragmented homes, and some are hungry or have physical problems.
When there is no basic home in the traditional American sense, something has to substitute for that. To facilitate this, he recommends either bringing such services to the school or placing them nearby. He also thinks that opening school buildings from 3 till 7 p.m. for sports, intellectual activities and social services could be of considerable benefit to many students who have no place to go after school.