ABSTRACT
In his essay, Tim Slekar offers a useful perspective on the potential for schools to play a transformative role in society and on the poor record of educational policies in affecting such reconstruction. In this rejoinder, the author offers three reasons for this outcome and then suggests that the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards offers George Counts's followers a chance to nod, if not smile. Critique of US schools in general, and of social studies education in particular, has a long tail. One reason is that schools do not do anything by themselves. A second explanation is that crafting a vision like Counts's is a far different thing than implementing one. One last reason why Counts's directive has not taken hold is that schools seem better able to affect change in individuals than in the collective.
