In this essay on education for the poor who live in urban areas is discussed how the problems of large cities relate to the educational experience of disadvantaged children. The inter-related development of middle-class suburbs, blue-collar neighborhoods, and the central city are analyzed. The basic argument is that segregation and fragmentation in the metropolitan area creates a spiral of decline which in one way or another adversely affects all its residents. Solutions to the problems of inner city education, it is suggested, might include socioeconomic and racial desegregation of the metropolitan area as well as radical reform in schools and other community institutions. (Author/JW)