ABSTRACT
The Democratic agenda for education is based on human capital economic theory which claims that investment in education can improve America’s ability to compete in global markets, provide equality of opportunity, and reduce unemployment. The economic emphasis of this theory has critical implications for education. When I distributed the Ariel Community Academy brochure among my colleagues with a critical note I received a reply from one faculty member who argued that the teaching of fi nancial strategies would allow children from low-income families to become educated business men and women. She applauded the school for embarking on an innovative method for changing the cycle of dropouts and illiteracy. I replied:
It [Ariel Community Academy] has accomplished a great deal. But I am wondering if the values being taught with regard to global fi nancial strategies are the same values that maintain inequality in U.S. society. Particularly, for example, the strong involvement in the project of the failed, and often accused of corruption, investment fi rm of Lehman Brothers. The other investment fi rms involved in the school have also contributed to the present economic crises and the foreclosing of homes of low-income families.
