Purpose Of Public Education

The call for an educated public has long existed in our societies. For example, Montesquieu quotes, in Book IV of his Spirit of the Laws, that education “may be defined as the love of the laws and of our country... As such love requires a constant preference of public to private interest, it is the source of all private virtues,” and, “Everything therefore depends on establishing this love in a republic,” . Indeed, the state of one’s government – no matter the situation of the people (i.e. monarchy, oligarchy, etc.) – is intimately connected with the level of education among its citizens. Thus, the question to be brought about is whether our public education systems continue to serve their original purpose, if that purpose has changed since

From his writings, it is observed that the original intention of public education was fundamentally connected to our political workings and the possession of liberty by the people. Education through the public should not only be required of every American, but desired as well. Each student was to be taught in order to fulfill his educational goals and reach adulthood with the skills to achieve his self-determined purpose in life; students with special talents would be granted permission to chase these goals to their own personal and social limits. While this is all well and true, perhaps the greatest purpose of education was to “be America’s greatest defense against tyranny” . An educated public that continued to be educated would be able to preserve their liberty and natural

Assuming you do not believe that a lack of education could possibly affect the government, allowing me to persuade you with a few exemplary evidences against such thought. A study in 2008, held by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, found that “only half of adults in the country could name the three branches of government” and a later one by the NAEP in 2014 “found that only 18 percent of 8th graders were proficient or above in U.S. History and only 23 percent in Civics” . While recently attending a seminar on education and its importance, I was also surprised to hear that of all the high-schoolers in the United States, only 1% are aware of the true story of our country’s founding. The lack of education concerning politics is not only glimpsed in these statistics, but also in the recent events of our own country. One example was in the 2016 election. Elections a time ago were based not on popularity, but education and ability. John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Coolidge, and even Wilson were admired for their minds. The battle for this prestigious position did, of course, require some dirt on the opposing candidates, but not so much as today. The very fact that perhaps the most deceitful or disgusting candidates – Donald J. Trump and Hilary Clinton – were the last two to choose from for President of the United States shows the character of our country.