Education is not just about jobs. The better educated people are, the harder it is to take advantage of them regardless of what sort of job they have. Communi

Education is not just about jobs. The better educated people are, the harder it is to take advantage of them regardless of what sort of job they have. Communities benefit from having educated people living in them -- people who can solve problems, mediate disputes, and organize to improve the community's situation. A democracy requires an educated populace in order to ensure that rights are not violated, that bad laws are repealed, and that an aristocracy cannot hijack the system at everyone's expense (bonus points if you can name a major world power that has that problem). At the end of the day, that is what this is really about: not having a society ruled by an aristocracy. Public education is meant to ensure that poor people can receive a decent education, to ensure that society does not fall into a pattern where only rich people are educated enough to run the show.