Book excerpt: In Altered Destinies, Gene Maeroff poses important questions about what is needed to equalize the tremendous imbalance between the education received by middle to upper class children and the education received by lower class children. He argues that, in addition to greater financial investment in their schools, lower class children must possess a strong support system--what he refers to as "social capital"--which emphasizes four areas: a sense of connectedness, a sense of well-being, a sense of academic initiative, and a sense of knowing. Maeroff builds a compelling case for how and why the concept of social capital will make a difference in the effort to improve opportunities for disadvantaged schoolchildren.