Somewhere along the line we collectively decided, without actually agreeing, that school is primarily about preparing the future workers of America for their jobs. Maybe it’s rooted in the Reagan Administration’s A Nation at Risk. According to that report our country’s greatness was rooted not in values like freedom, life, and liberty, but our ability to beat the Japanese on standardized tests. Thirty-five years later we have arrived at a place where the kindergarten pageant must be canceled to help make students “college- and career-ready.”10
