Public education used to be the foundation of our country and a model for education all over the world. It was responsible for upward mobility, the establishment of the middle class, and the basis for financial security for the vast majority of our citizens. It was also the springboard to higher education, providing students with the information and skill sets they needed to succeed in college and beyond. In other words, it was the basis for the American Dream.
No longer for much of public education. School facilities are crumbling, dropout rates are soaring, test scores are falling, and, at a fundamental level, more and more young people are leaving public education without the tools necessary to become vital and contributing citizens or the ability to participate, much less survive in, the global economy.
