The Imperfect Panacea: American Faith in Education

About this book

This short history of American Education examines our nations peculiar faith in the power of its schools to solve its various social problems. Focusing mainly on the post Civil War period it shows how our early public school system was used in an attempt to solve such problems as racial inequality urban decay unemployment and nationalization. It also shows how later problems such as overpopulation AIDS environmental pollution drugs automobile safety crime and cultural discrimination have been put on the schools agenda. In a new concluding section Professor Perkinson discusses why the public schools have not solved these broad social problems and why they should not be expected to do so.