equal terms .” — justice earl warren O t h e r

Prompt 1:
Labaree (p. 46) explains that schools addressed the things that are “too
important to be left to chance or to the option of individual parents.”
Thinking about the present day, which of society’s expectations of
school still stem or partially stem from a belief that there are topics
too important to be left to chance or the at-home education provided by
parents (that school must therefore intentionally broach)?

Prompt 2:
With what purpose(s) should we study the history of schooling?
What are the most important lessons from the history of American
schooling that we should draw? 

Prompt 3: The Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
decision makes 10 claims in one paragraph regarding the public purpose
of schooling:
[1]Today, education is perhaps the most important function of
state and local governments. [2] Compulsory school attendance laws and
the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of
the importance of education to our democratic society. [3] It is
required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities,
[4] even service in the armed forces. [5]It is the very foundation of
good citizenship. [6] Today it is a principal instrument in awakening
the child to cultural values, [7] in preparing him for later
professional training, and [8] in helping him to adjust normally to his
environment. [9]In these days, it is doubtful that any child may
reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the
opportunity of an education. [10] Such an opportunity, where the state
has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to
all on equal terms.” —Justice Earl Warren (1954)

Which one of these do you think is the most important? Which one of
these (the same claim or a different one) do you think contemporary
schooling best reflects?
In the Hickey article, as in Brown v. Board, people were integrating and
accepting of different cultures, but the government was prohibiting
integration and propagating prejudice in society.

Prompt 4:
Dewey claimed that schools needed to be converted to a social center in
order to keep individuals properly adjusted to a rapidly changing
environment. Is this valuable in today’s society? Is it possible to
complete this transformation? What would it look like?