The Prussian version of “tracking” students assured a plentiful labor supply. Moreover, since the testing process, for all its flaws and limitations, could claim to be “scientific” and objective, there was at least the illusion of fairness in the system. If you didn’t look too closely—if you factored out things like family wealth and political connections and the wherewithal to hire private tutors—the system could pass for a meritocracy.
