Beyond affirmative action: The shame of education and widening inequality — Class 13

 

This week’s focus is one that has received a great deal of attention in recent years — and not all of it terribly well-informed or constructive. It’s inequalities in education. Most of us believe we know a great deal about education because we’ve been through it. My goal this week is to get you to rethink your assumptions, and go deeper. The questions I’ll be addressing are: Why are higher wages correlated with more education? What are the positions in the major debate over how to fix our public schools? What reforms are necessary in early education and K-12 education to address inequality? Should it be a national goal that every child has access to higher education? How should higher education be organized to reduce inequality? I really am pleased to be able to bring you my Wealth and Poverty course. This is the thirteenth class in the 14-week series, which I will continue to post every Monday here on YouTube.