1. Vocational Paradigm
1.1. **Greater** Investment in STEM, **Smaller** Investment in humanities
1.1.1. Major factors promoting STEM/vocational education
1.1.1.1. Cold War: National Defense Education Act (1958) increased STEM/vocational funding
1.1.1.2. Reagan’s *A Nation At Risk* (1983) caused public scare for perceived lack of STEM readiness compared to other countries
1.1.1.3. Obama's State of the Union address (2013) (2016)
1.2. Supreme Court Ruling
1.2.1. Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE)
1.2.1.1. Purpose of education=vocational **and** civic duty
1.2.1.2. Standard for civic education should be set **higher**
1.2.2. State of New York
1.2.2.1. After 8th grade, civic education is **sufficient** to “function productively as civic participants”
1.2.2.2. They said this education level is adequate for minimum wage labor
1.2.3. Generally
1.2.3.1. Dominant policy paradigm attends to **vocational** purpose
1.2.3.2. *Technocratic economic policy*: Dissemination of skills to reduce inequality in tech-dependent economy.
2. Participatory Readiness
2.1. Connection between education & inequality: technological change biased available jobs toward high-skilled workers; **Broad dissemination of skills**
2.1.1. Claudia Goldin & Larry Katz's *The Race Between Education and Technology* (2008)
2.1.2. French economist Thomas Piketty's *Capital in the Twenty-First Century * (2014)
2.1.2.1. Political forces shape distribute outcomes--dissemination of skill AND social/political change is required to attack inequality
2.1.2.2. Dani Rodrik (Economist): “Inequality has been a choice;” this is **preventable** with *policy changes *
2.2. Definition
2.2.1. Civic Roles
2.2.1.1. Citizen
2.2.1.1.1. Pursue what they perceive to be universal values, critical thinking, and bipartisan projects
2.2.1.2. Activist
2.2.1.2.1. Seeks to change eharts and minds by fighting fairly for particular outcomes, sometimes makes sacrifices
2.2.1.3. Politician
2.2.1.3.1. Focuses on fighting not necessarily fairly
2.2.2. Civic Agency
2.2.2.1. Disinterested deliberation
2.2.2.2. Prophetic frame shifting
2.2.2.3. Fair fighting
2.3. Why Participatory Readiness > Vocational Education
2.3.1. An education that prepares students for civic/political engagement supports political equality and increased economic fairness
2.3.1.1. Education is a source for democracy because it fosters engagement
2.3.1.1.1. Edward L. Glaeser, Giacomo Ponzetto, and Andrei Shleifer's *Why Does Democracy Need Education? *
2.3.2. The idea of civic agency as the activity of co-creating a way of life
2.3.3. Allign more closely with and better achieve the central intellectual labor of the democratic citizen
2.3.3.1. Declaration of Independence
2.4. Vocational education/technogratic treatment of income is shortsighted
2.4.1. Lose sight of the inequalities present in contemporary society as a result
2.4.2. Economic inequality is an outgrowth of politics
2.4.3. We have lost sight of the ideal model of the "statesman"
2.5. Improvement
2.5.1. Revision of the liberal arts curriculum
2.5.1.1. Necessary to retain purposes and intellectual methods of liberal arts
2.5.2. Increased engagement in politics
2.5.2.1. Higher SAT verbal scores correlate to increased likelihood of political participation