Case against school

I think that schooling is definitely something that is necessary, but for different reasons than Gatto says. He downplays the academic education that is given to children and also glosses over the positive social skills that are developed over their twelve-year career.
While school might train kids to be sheep, Gatto himself says that is to avoid if you know what to look for. But another aspect of socialization occurs in school as well. Kids learn how to interact with their peers in a way that isn’t possible without being with people their same age for extended periods of time. While yes, I know of home-schooled children who are extremely bright, they are some of the most socially awkward people I know. Haven’t never spent large blocks of time with other people, they close down and don’t know how to react once they are among their peers.
Also, the education that is given might at times seem useless, but I think that people need some kind of education. He says that he wants to give kids education but not schooling. Unfortunately the only other option I can see for schooling is home schooling, but there isn’t much ability for a member of the family to stay home every day to teach the kids. Also, while he points out that people like Lincoln and Franklin never had formal education, I don’t think that you can compare the world they lived in to the one we are in today. The cutting edge of learning these days is so much further along, that you can’t really teach yourself the knowledge necessary to do more that basic things.
While “schooling” as we have today might not be the best option, and it gives plenty of opportunity for conspiracy theories, it gives people education opportunities that wouldn’t be available to people who don’t have access to home schooling. The system has holes, but it gives people a boost in life that they can get nowhere else.