Eminent historian David Labaree describes a gradual shift, over the last two centuries, in Americans’ beliefs and attitudes about the goals of public education. At its founding, our school system was designed mainly to serve the public good, conceived at the time as an effort to create a unified citizenry. By the early 20th century, the schools were understood to serve the public good by developing human capital. More recently, though, the public aims of schooling have faded from view, as Americans have come to see education mostly as a private resource.
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