ABSTRACT
Public education has made a major contribution to the well-being of society and it continues to do so. Indeed, the public school and systems of public education would have to be rated among the great successes of the last century. Those nations that are at the forefront of economic and technological progress take pride in their public schools. Many of their leaders have come from humble origins along paths that could not have been negotiated were it not for the commitment of teachers and the contributions of communities that ensured schooling was possible for all, even in the most remote and often soul-searing settings. We both attended public schools, or state schools as we described them at the time.
