Proponent of common schools to create equal opportunity in the job market. (Spring, 2022)

Argued that “a republic cannot long remain ignorant and free, hence the necessity of universal popular education” (Cremin, 2024)

Believed that everyone going to school would increase the wealth of the community, so everyone should pay into the school system. (Spring, 2022)

Foundational proponent of Human Capital Theory. (Spring, 2022)

Claimed that “people are an important part of the wealth of nations.” He argued that if people invest in education to improve individual job prospects, then it simply makes sense that the government would invest in the nations education to improve the economy. (Spring, 2022, p. 75)

Foundational proponent of Human Capital Theory. (Spring, 2022)

Wrote Human Capital.

Argued that knowledge, information, ideas, skills, and health create economic growth.

Therefore investments in education were simply investments into the economy.

Coined the term “knowledge economy.”

Johnson declares an “unconditional war on poverty (Cooley, 2023).

Social welfare legislation signed into law over the 1960s. The aim of the legislation was to end poverty. 

Directly impacted by human capital theory. (Spring, 2022)

Those in poverty are believed to be at a disadvantage compared to those of other classes.

“The cause may lie deeper in our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities, in a lack of education and training, in a lack of medical care and housing, in a lack of decent communities in which to live and bring up their children.” (Cooley, 2023).

Continues Mann’s legacy of public education creating wealth for the whole community. 

Began as part of the War on Poverty. (Spring, 2022)

Provide early childhood education to children living in poverty to give them a head start on school in hopes that it will even the playing field and lift future generations out of poverty.

Date from The Administration for Children and Families (n.d.). 

A government report. (Spring, 2022)

Blamed the public school system for lower rates of economic productivity, claiming the quality of the education provided by public school was poor.

Co-authors of The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud and the Attack on America’s Public Schools. (Berliner & Biddle, 1994). 

Wrote about their belief that the crisis reported in A Nation at Risk was both near impossible to prove and based on faulty data. (Spring, 2022)

Federal legislation impacting public schools. (Spring, 2022)

The goal of NCLB is to ensure there are enough highly skilled US workers for the economy to grow.

Significant emphasis on school accountability and high stakes testing. (Duignan & Nolan, 2024)

Argued that the most important phase of schooling for improving rates of poverty is pre-school. (Spring, 2022)

Believed this was when the soft skills needed to persevere through higher levels of schooling to gainful employment are learned in preschool.

He believed that if these skills were not learned then, it may be too late.

President who signed NCLB into law. (Spring, 2022)

“One in five jobs is related to global trade…we need to encourage children to take more math and science and to make sure those courses are rigorous enough to compete with other nations.” (Spring, 2022, p.77)

Indication that the competition is global and that community will be negatively impacted by education that does not prep students for this.

Narrowing of what is important in education from avoiding ignorance in Mann’s day to STEM.

Criticized the concept of human capital theory.

Cowrote: “Globalization, Knowledge, and the Myth of the Magnet Economy.” (Spring, 2022)

Argued that when knowledge is “routinized” the highly-skilled worker can be replaces by someone of lesser skill who will accept lower pay for the same work.

Believed that an over supply of educated worker depresses wages. It appears their argument is a supply/demand argument. Are you highly-skilled if everyone else is also highly skilled?

Believed the opposite of human capital theory. (Spring, 2022)

Wrote “Inequalities at the Starting Gate…” (Spring, 2022)

Inequalities between socioeconomic classes are “very significant.” (Spring, 2022, p. 89)

Inequalities between race and ethnicity are statically significant before SES is considered. 

Question: Has Mann’s concept of community lived up to its expectation if 55 years later (despite the War on Poverty), SES is still so impactful?

A new version of NCLB with less Federal oversight and more State planning. (The Understood Team, n.d.).

Requires that all state teach using high academic standards, but Common Core is not pushed.

Continues NCLB’s requirement of high stakes testing but introduces new accountability measures including but not limited to

• Graduation rates 

• Absenteeism

• Limiting the % of alternate assessments

Struggling schools are funded instead of penalized. Instead of being prescribed actions to improve, States are required to have an evidence based plan of action.