Downsizing schools--creating small schools, schools-within-schools, and small learning communities--has been a highly favored school reform strategy of recent years, one that is supported by considerable research. Yet for many of these schools, the going has not been easy, bedeviled by bureaucratic resistance, public misunderstanding, and struggles for resources and autonomy. This book looks at the often hostile environments in which many small schools must operate, focusing on political difficulties that urban small schools and schools-within-schools encounter with state and district regulations and bureaucracies. The first chapter presents six patterns that typify how small schools/units have been developed and fit into existing school systems. Other chapters describe the small schools movement in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and Portland (Oregon), as well as efforts in specific schools: Kapaa Elementary School (Hawaii); International High School (Queens, New York); and the Julia Richman Education Complex (New York City). The final chapter suggests that successful, enduring change in schools requires change and reform at the system level. Issues include changing rules, rather than granting exemptions to small schools; bypassing seniority to hire reform-minded teachers; needs for active superintendent support and a district office dedicated to reform; political maneuvering within "informal" systems; mandates of the standards and accountability movement; federal requirements for research-based reform; bureaucratic pressures to conform; and the need to rethink the principalship. (Contains 49 references and an index.) (SV)