"If we are all Americans doesn't it make sense for every child to have the right to the same public education?" she asks.

At the same time. Ira Scheier the principal of the military dependent's school in Turkey, says his experience abroad his given him a positive perspective on American education.

"In Turkey, where the overcrowding is so bad that there are commonly two students per desk, we're looked on with envy for what we call the bare essentials." Scheier says.

Patricia Shaefer, who is the principal of a private elementary school of 280 students, says the experience has awakened her to the discrepancies between the education she can offer her students and what a public school facing financial constraints is often forced to offer.

"It's important for me as an independent school person to realize that I live in a larger contest. Everyone else's problem is my problem," she says.

To facilitate the exchange of ideas, the Institute organizers have encouraged the participants to keep journals and write freely of what they learn from each other.

"The emphasis on writing is helpful for putting ideas in perspective and developing a way to focus on the issues and cut out what is extraneous," says O.D. Basinski.

Over the past few years 70 institutions have popped up around the U.S. to provide needed meeting places for school leaders finishing his week at Harvard, one principal said, "principals tend to be the end of the line: it's nice to knows there are others in the same boat."