ABSTRACT
THE PAIDEIA PROPOSAL IS OFFERED AS AN EDUCATIONAL prescription for all of America’s children. It is based on two major premises: that “the shape of the best education for the best is not unknown to us” (p. 7) and that “the best education for the best . . . is the best education for all” (p. 6). Surely no humane and decent person finds it easy to counsel against a proposal that promises to provide the “same quality of schooling to all,” and thereby to educate all of our children to their fullest potential. Hard as it is, however, I believe that we should reject the recommendations in The Paideia Proposal. I will argue that “equality of quality” in education cannot be achieved by forcing all students to take exactly the same course of study, nor can the ideal of a democratic, classless society be actualized by establishing only one model of excellence.
