The Peter Pan Proposal

Abstract

In The Paideia Proposal, the success of our schools is closely linked not only to the success of our political, social, and economic institutions, but also to their survival. According to Mortimer Adler, public schools do not simply reflect social upheaval and shifting values; they cause many of these fundamental changes. On the negative side,the failure to challenge and stimulate students in the classroom "leads to boredom, delinquency,lawless violence, drug dependence, alcoholism, and other forms of undesirable conduct" (p. 36). The "abominable discrimination" of the tracking system threatens the quality of citizenship and the democratic process (p. 15). On the positive side of this potential to alter society, school reform will lead to a properly "educated electorate,"which in turn will ensure "innovative leadership" and the likelihood of our solving our national problems. According to the Proposal, the reformed public schools will "carry us over the threshold" to an "earthly paradise." The brick building at the end of the block is the primary actor in this drama, both the villain and the hero (pp. 77-79).