Schools and the transformation of a metropolis

This paper describes the urban decay and deconcentration process in the St. Louis metropolitan area and its relationship to the changes that have occurred in the public school systems in the area. Evidence is offered to suggest that schools are as much the victim of urban decay as they are a cause of it. Because of the linkages between these two processes, it is concluded that urban decay cannot be reversed without reviving schools and that the problems exhibited in many school systems cannot be dealt with unless the urban decay process is slowed or reversed.