Every politician that runs a campaign has a plank in their platform about education or education reform. They have it because it is necessary. The vast majority of voters have an interest in education – either their own or that of their offspring. We have decided as a nation that education is our path to better careers, higher income, and higher living standards. We have invested the responsibility for most of that in our state and local governments.

If you go back before world war I, this was still true – as soon as there was a community with enough kids, they would hire a school master or mistress and erect a school to help make their community literate. Students learned in one room schools together throughout elementary school. But as families flocked to urban centers, one room schools seemed to not answer the needs of our increasingly industrial society. Schools became more about preparing students for life in an increasingly industrial and corporate environment. Continue reading →