This publication is the complete transcript of a weekly radio program devoted to contemporary issues in American education. This particular program is the first of two that focus on the topic of school consolidation. In separate segments of the program, a teacher and students drill in a one-room school in Indiana; a long-time rural school teacher and superintendent discuss the pros and cons of one-room schools; author Jonathan Sher discusses the myths of rural school district consolidation; parents, teachers, and students from Monhegan Island, Maine, discuss the island's one-room school; author Jonathan Sher discusses the advantages of small schools; Minnesota representative Bruce Anderson and students from rural Minnesota high schools discuss the viability of school consolidation; Philadelphia school system administrator Ann Bush discusses the trend toward consolidation; author Jonathan Sher and Thomas Shannon of the National School Boards Association discuss the ideal size for a school; the teacher/principal and students of a California one-room school discuss the advantages of one-room schools; and Urie Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University discusses school size as it relates to school-community alienation. (JG)