Honestly, you're giving the entire institution of education waaaayyy too much credit. I think they're just trying to teach children with as little expense possi

Honestly, you're giving the entire institution of education waaaayyy too much credit. I think they're just trying to teach children with as little expense possible, in a way that panders to the lowest common denominator and what you see in public education today is the end result. Homework is just a happy byproduct of a poorly structured industry :p They can't be evil geniuses and inept at the same time can they? At least that's how I view it. I think educational institutions attempt to shape young people in a way they imagine makes them contributing members of society. At least, that was the starting point. What it has boiled down to (getting back to pandering to the lowest common denominator, the bad system structure in it's entirety and desire to spend the least amount of money + the fact that it's flipping hard to get kids to do what you want, ask a parent) is that they are now basically just hoping young people don't get into trouble. Just get through to college without ruining your life or the life of someone else, and hey.. maybe you'll even learn something. This type of system doesn't breed the next Steve Jobs, but it probably does get a few extra kids of the street and maybe impart some knowledge.