The purpose of the school system is to give students a chance to get a higher education, which is almost a necessity if a citizen in the U.S. is looking to get a reasonably paying job. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2009, people that have a bachelor’s degree will earn 1.66 times what a high school grad will make in his/her life. And someone with a master’s degree is expected to make almost double what a high school grad is expected to make in his/her lifetime. High school is known to be an important stepping-stone towards college and these statistics explain just how important a college degree is towards getting a higher paying job.

Public education exposes students to a wide variety of subjects and topics, and lets them make their own decisions. In this aspect public education is democratic; schools don’t force propaganda on students and allow them to have their own opinions and ideas unlike countries like North Korea. New radical ideas and free thinking are encouraged in the classroom to help challenge the mind of students. In history class past mistakes and past controversial topics are taught to students. Students learn about the fall of empires and the cause behind these falls, the World Wars and the cause behind those. All this history is taught in hopes that when the students can vote and more easily make an impact in the world that they will remember these mistakes and not make them again. Or remember what worked in the past and try to implement those successes.

Keith mentioned that many parts of school weren’t democratic, for example the ability to vote on when school starts, ends, vacation time, and methods of discipline. These are preparing students for the real world. In a job the boss won’t ask an employee if he would rather be fired or receive a drop in pay. He won’t ask what time is most convenient for his employee to come to work. The employee must work whenever the boss tells him too or risk being fired. All these facts speak for themselves, the public education system is democratic and helps prepare students for the future. It helps prevent past mistakes from happening again, trains the mind to think freely and even sets students on their way to eventually obtaining high paying jobs.

Work Cited

Hanford, Emily . "The Value of a College Degree." 
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/. 13 Oct. 2012. 3 Sep. 2013. <http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/dropouts/value-of-college-degree.html>.