Purpose of Education

Opinion of Farrah Thompson, French teacher:

I agree with you that a lot of the values set forth by the

founding fathers for a common school are still evident in

today's public schools. However, as our society changes and

schools continue to be called upon to resolve our social and

economic woes, I believe we are moving futher and futher

away from the intentions that our founding fathers started

out with. First of all, I don't believe our founding

fathers ever intended the common schools to be used for a

vehicle to affect social change. The ideals of literacy and

political freedom were inextricalby intertwined in the minds

of those colonial leaders (Tozer, 2006, p. 438). Therefore,

the purpose of education to them was to produce literate and

functioning citizens of the new democracy. Since then the

public schools have been called on to "fix" a number of

social woes including immigration, industry, and economic

problems. Today, more than ever, public schools are being

asked to work miracles in our society. I recently read an

article in the PSEA magazine, Voice, that was addressed to

President Obama and asked him to stop saying that schools

"fail." While the article did not remove all responsiblity

from educators, it highlighted that there are many other

factors in a child's life that may "fail'' him. It mentions

the entertainment industry, businesses, law enforcement,

social agencies, legislators state education departments,

and the media, among other factors. The final line of the

article says, "I do not know, Mr. President, if it takes a

village to raise a child. I do know that it takes more than

a school." (PSEA Voice, April 2010, p. 9). I love this line

because, although I think schools should be held accountable

for their students' learning, I don't think they should be

the only institutions that are held accountable for the

success of our students and our society. Citizens of the

United States, perhaps more than any other people, seem to

have a deep-seated, even exaggerated faith in the ability of

their schools to solve major social problems (Tozer, 2006,

p. 460). I think America needs to stop and re-evaluate what

the purpose of education and its public schools are.