>> The idea behind universal public education is that all children — or almost all, making allowance for those with severe learning disabilities — are fundament

>> The idea behind universal public education is that all children — or almost all, making allowance for those with severe learning disabilities — are fundamentally educable. It is the idea that there is some set of subjects — reading, writing, basic mathematics, etc. — that essentially all children can learn, if sufficient resources are invested in teaching them. Is that the goal? I don't think it is. I think that schools serve a host of purposes, some of which we don't like to talk about. They are a place where the government can literally inspect children. They are where the malnourish, sick or otherwise distressed children can get noticed by people in a place to help. They are daycares that free up parents to work more and be more productive. They are centers of indoctrination where kids are taught societal norms. They are cultural melting pots where kids learn to navigate self-defining social structures. They are also proving grounds, places where children are judged and assigned numbers (grades) that will either grant or deny them access to higher levels of education or other opportunity. The three Rs have never been the entire mission. Looking at what kids do at schools these days, education seems very much secondary to everything else that schools do.