ABSTRACT
From its earliest days, our American nation relied on families and widespread taxpayer-supported schooling to secure our country’s republican form of government. A fundamental right guaranteed by state constitutions, free public education assumed a major socialization role in teaching shared American norms to an increasingly diverse student population. To prepare young people to accept the responsibilities of democratic citizenship, learn the knowledge and skills to contribute to the economy, and enable their social mobility, defining an appropriate curricular balance between order and liberty would challenge communities then and now. To achieve these ends, adequately and equitably resourced public schools remain essential bulwarks to ensure our nation’s political and economic health.
