Purpose of Public Schools

Purposes of Schooling Essay Labaree examines the competing ideological traditions that have fought for dominance in our public schools since the nineteenth century and considers the social consequences when certification and degrees become more important than the acquisition of knowledge. He argues that the central problems with education are not pedagogical, organizational, social or cultural in nature but are fundamentally political. He identifies three prominent educational goals that at times have undermined each other. He …

…are paid better salaries and are afforded much respect, unlike in US. It is my feeling that this denigration of teachers and student apathy greatly compounds the already complicated political situation facing US schools. Unfortunately, Labaree felt this problem was too insignificant to devote any space to, instead choosing to focus on social mobility as the major evil creeping on US society, when I feel it is a basic human attribute like greed, jealousy, etc.