The Public Education System Throughout my experience in the public school system, I have heard the phrase, "Why do I need to know anyway that ? approximately 1,057 times. It's not uncommon to hear students complain about the value of their education. Regardless, there seems to be unanimous agreement that young people need education to succeed in life. What is education and what is school for? In his book "A Time to Learn", George Wood gives a definition of education as "making wise citizens and good neighbors capable of thinking deeply and intelligently about the problems of self and society, of caring for others and to respect them, to take care of their family.” needs and contribute to the well-being of others” (Glickman 48). Is school necessary to produce this type of educated citizen? If not, how can we measure success and how important is school in achieving this? The purpose of the public school system is to ensure that every child has the natural right to education. Currently, every state in the country has laws requiring school attendance (grades K-12). There are also requirements for what subjects students must learn. Standardized tests measure each student's abilities in these required subjects and evaluate all tests equally. These high-stakes tests are used to determine student achievement and progression to the next grade level. Statistics show that students from disadvantaged families have lower test scores and are more likely to drop out than white, middle-class students. When I think about it, I'm reminded of a line from a rap song about raising a southern black kid in the public school system: "I get 300s on my SATs and I'm even." So why do these students, who are equal, perform so poorly in our public schools? To reach a conclusion, we must look at the curriculum and standards, and their purpose. The movement toward standardization primarily concerns the school district's responsibility to generate students who have mastered basic reading, writing, and math skills. These skills are essential to business transactions, political and professional relationships, and almost every aspect of life in today's society. Students are assessed indiscriminately using tests structured around what they are expected to know. The problem is that a student's test scores vary from day to day..