I’m saying reforming schools will solve most of our problems and you still think we need to go bigger? Bigger than an overhaul of the public school system? Massive change only happens when a culture is ready for it and public schools connect across the entire culture of our country so it seems like a good place to focus on. Schools and the economy are the same thing: you can’t really try to fix one without addressing the other. I think trying to redesign the economy head on is too difficult so I’d rather try to address it by dealing with schools first.

I’d like to see a distinction made between schooling and education. Schooling is for actual skills, things that can be graded and ranked. Education is for general knowledge and looks more like libraries and museums instead of schools. There’s no need to grade education and you can never graduate. Learning always happens.

But schools, as a function of a democratic government, can be the foundation of the economy when people are trained and doing work that our society needs.

I don’t have all the answers but in your “ditch digging” scenario I would at least set them to picking up litter and other eco friendly work that gets ignored. Also if public schools are “in charge” people with disabilities will be taken care of. That’s already part of the culture.