The momentum of the individual rights movement has placed such an emphasis on individual claims and needs that all the nation's institutions have become suspect. These include churches, the family, and schools--those structures that mediate between the individual and the impersonal megastructures of society. These institutions are part of the…

Notes that the proportion of the Russian state budget spent on education is less than one-third of that spent in the United States. Exacerbating this problem, educational facilities at all levels are inadequate and deteriorating. Describes ways through which the city of Riazan has attempted to address this problem. (MJP)