From the Chicago Tribune:
America's urban public schools are in trouble: Student test scores are low and dropout rates are high. Recent remedies proposed include everything from reducing the power of teachers unions and opening more charter schools to ending test-based accountability. But what if education critics are focused on the wrong problem? [About the authors: Greg J. Duncan is an education professor at the University of California at Irvine. Richard J. Murnane is a professor of education and society at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. They are co-editors of "Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools and Children's Life Chances," published by the Russell Sage Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.]

For the full story, please visit http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-perspec-1006-urban-2011100....