I believe that it is important for those of us that live in a society so dominated by wealth and status to recognize that class mobility is decreasing at the same rate that the wealth disparity between the haves and the have nots is increasing.

Our educational systems perpetuate this system and maintain that an underprivilliaged and impoverished working class is always at the bedrock of the wealth of the elites. The educational and domestic policies are established by authorities whose power was derived from this system, and therefore it remains in their interest to see it remain unchanged. Perhaps a more democratic system of policy-making could help the situation, but unfortunately so many Americans are deluded about the nature of wealth in the country. The middle class shrinks, while more advertisements and politicians try to convince the poor working class that a middle-class lifestyle is within their reach. This is how you convince throngs of working class stiffs throughout the south that voting Republican is in their interest!

Revolutionary change and a leveling of wealth in this country seems impossible to me within our limited representative system.

I completely agree with what you are saying. I think that for too long America has been "free" in name only. And that the "American Dream" is simply an unattainable abstract used to pacify the majority of the American population. And for a while, I too, believed that our nation could change for the better. However, I came to realize that just as the school system is unavoidably attached to the society as a whole, so is our nation to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, it is my belief that our entire world is ran by the haves or at least the system benefits the have's the most. The importance to me, in a world like this, seems to be to look for smaller victories over oppression.

I think about this type of thing a lot. The haves and have nots... it is clearly such an injustice, but one we are too comfortable with and accustomed to. The fact is our educational system is simply, yes, a reflection of the social problems that dominate American society. Think about how contradictory is seems, to have these teachers that are advocating the American Dream and promoting ideas of equality and justice, yet simultaneously being part of a system that in fact, makes race and class distinctions in such an obvious, blatent way. The way we attempt to circumvent these issues, on a governmental level, is a shallow effort to address deeply rooted discrepancies between groups. The education system is only a reflection of the larger system that we are a part of- and until we change as a society (and we MUST), we cannot expect our children to all have equal opportunities within their grasp. We cannot all have the same resources at our disposal, and this expectation is one that fails children over and over again. Admitting how fundamentally unequal our "equal education" is for Americans would do us all some good- and impact the way we looked at policy-making and standards for the future of education. Would we not be better served by looking at the benefits of diversifying education, as opposed to trying to make it the same? Just a tangent from the earlier posting you shared...