The Case For Community Schools

Architect Steven Bingler is the founder of Concordia LLC, a planning and architectural design firm based in New Orleans. He is the author of 'Schools As Centers of Community: A Citizen's Guide for Planning and Design,' published by the U.S. Department of Education and has served as a special consultant to the office of the secretary of the U.S. DOE for policy related to the design of schools as centers of the community. Mr. Bingler recently shared his expertise with the Los Angeles community at a sumposium held by New Schools Better Neighborhoods (www.nsbn.org), focused on model community-centered, joint-use schools. "If we continue to approach the issues of the urban condition from a single-minded or simplistic point of view that has to do with building seats, then we are really misunderstanding the challenge, which is to design and plan in a way that addresses and resolves many inter-related issues all at once. We need to create the kind of synergy that makes one plus one equal three, particularly in times when resources are scarce."