This brings us to the question of what an effective or essential education for working class children should be? The logical place to begin would be with the definition of the word-symbol "educate".

I have usedThe Living Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, since its publication in 1971. The book states that educate is to "advance the mental, aesthetic, physical, or moral development of, esp. by teaching or schooling..." The word-symbol is derived from the Latin stem educo, which means to "lead forth."

The Latin word-symbol educe means "to bring or draw out; to extract..." Last, but not least, the word-symbol education is "the process of educating, teaching, or training; a part of or a stage in this training; the learning or development which results from this process of teaching or training..."

Nowhere in these definitions does it mention specific categories of information or the methods to be used to educate. Only that something is to be taught.

Moreover, the definition specifically states that the function of education is to develop the mental, aesthetic, physical, and moral abilities of the student. It doesn't state that such advancement be either to the "fullest" or to a "minimum" potential."

Please note, also, that the definition neither mentions nor implies that moral instruction is to be limited to religious schooling. But it does imply that such instruction should be part of the objectives of any form of education—even secular, public school education.

Furthermore, the definition states that the educator educates by "drawing forth" knowledge from the student rather than by imposing such knowledge. The distinction of "drawing forth" rather than "imposing' is a very important factor in the process of true—or "essential"—education. It means that the teacher should not offer, or impose, solutions but merely assist students to think about problems and allow them to find their own solutions.

Simply stated, it is a function of education to teach the student how to think. A goal at which the state education systems have failed.

Education, or formal schooling as we understand it to be, is merely a segment of the "socialization" process; the overall process by which society teaches the child how it is expected to function and behave within society.

Socialization of the child is developed with the assistance of many different social agencies such as the family, the peer group, the church, and today more than ever—the mass media.

In the year 2003 AD, the mass media, which includes newspapers, magazines, radio, television, movies, musical videos, and increasingly the internet, are controlled by giant corporations that are owned and controlled by wealthy individuals.

The needs and wants of these people have little in common with those of working people.

The best and easiest way to help you understand what the function of a true, or essential education should be for children of working parents is for you to read an excerpt from my book. The chapter is about a fictional country called "America." America was created as the easiest way to show working Americans the many benefits to be obtained by changing our representative democracy to a direct democracy.

Included in the chapter is a description of America's public education system. Read the chapter by clicking on the link above. The entire book can be downloaded from this website should you wish to read it.