1. Danielle talks about the importance of poltical education and particpation
2. Education should emphasize Vocational Education.
2.1. Schools should develop students vocational skills.
2.1.1. STEM skills leads to less economic inequality and closes the gap between the rich and the poor
2.1.1.1. “this view is tightly connected to a technocratic economic policy that focuses on the dissemination of skills as a way to reduce inequality in a technology-dependent economy. The result has been massively increased investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education-STEM- and correspondingly reduced outlays for the humanities." (9, Danielle ALlen)
2.1.1.1.1. Danielle talks about the equal attainment will result in a larger distrubtion of skills, which results in a reduced income inequality.
2.1.2. Allows for the USA to compete with other countries.
2.1.2.1. The push for vocational skills started in cold war. At a moment where the USA felt behind in the technology race.
2.1.2.1.1. “The soviet launch of sputnik, the first satellite, provoked a sense that the united states was falling behind in a cold war scientific contest." (9, Danielle Allen)
3. Education should priotize Civic Agency and Engagement.
3.1. Schools should put more funding and improvement into Liberal Arts courses.
3.1.1. leads to politcal equality, which leads to overall equality
3.1.1.1. Danielle Allen emphazies the importance of poltical equality and quotes economists that claim every outcome of society is because of politics.
3.1.1.1.1. "Yet this is not the only possible response to contemporary inequalities. As economists such as Dani Rodrik have pointed out, gross economic inequalities do not result from an inexorable forward march of technology or globalization or from the nature of the markets. They are products of policy choices, which are themselves the outcome of politics.” (9, Danielle Allen)
3.1.1.1.2. “An education that prepares every student for civic and political engagement not only supports political equality but may also lead to increased economic fairness.” (11, Danielle ALlen)
3.1.2. leads to more poltical participation.
3.1.2.1. Danielle cites multiple studies that show students who are profcient in English and Liberal Arts Particpiate more in politics
3.1.2.1.1. “High stat verbal scores correlate with increased likelihood of political participation, while high sat math scores correlate with a decreased likelihood of participation.” (13, Danielle Allen)
3.1.2.1.2. "92.8 percent of humanites majors have voted at least once since finishing school. Among STEM majors, that number is 83.5%. (13, Danielle Allen)
4. Vocational Education is described as " vocational purpose: the goal is to ensure that young people, society genrally can compete in a global economy." (9, Danielle Allen)
5. Civic Agency is described as "The basic literacy, calulating and verbal skills neccessay to enable children to eventually function productively as civic particpiants capable of voting and serving on a jury" (8, Danielle Allen)
6. Mentions the last clause of the Declartion of Independence, “The final clause summarize the central intellectual labor of the democratic citizen. Citizens must judge whether their governments meet their responsibility, spelled out earlier in the sentence, to secure rights. If a government fails in its core purposes, it is the job of the citizen to figure this out and decide how to change direction. This requires diagnosing social circumstances and making judgements about grounding principles for the political order and about possible alternatives to the fomral organization of state power.” (12, Danielle Allen)
6.1. This connection brings the need of LIberal arts to Danielle Allens Argument.
6.1.1. “To make judgements about the course of human events and our government's roles in them, we need history, anthropology, cultural sciences, economics, political science, sociology, and psychology, not to mention math- especially the statistical reasoning necessary for probabilistic judgment- and science as governmental policy naturally intersects with scientific questions.” (12, Danielle Allen)
7. how can the education system go about improving Civic Agency?
7.1. Danielle Allen talks about the need for change in the Liberal Arts courses as students need to be taught about current topics.
7.1.1. “Where their versions of the tools were compatible with preserving patriarchy, enslaving black Africans, and committing genocide against indigenous peoples, ours must not be.This revision of liberal arts curriculum is controversial but necessary, for we want to retain the purposes and intellectual methods of the liberal arts, if not all of its content.” (13, Danielle Allen)
7.2. Talks about participatory readiness, and the 3 tasks that are needed to achieve civic agency.
7.2.1. "Such civic agency involves three tasks" "First is disintersted deliberation around a public problem" "Second is prophetic work intented to shift a societys values" "Fair fighting". (11, Daniell allen)
7.2.1.1. Talks about how these different tasks create Civic Leadership roles in society such as activists and politcians.