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acc2021.ei-ie.org/en/item/The%20last%20few%20years%20have%20witnessed%20a%20great%20deal%20of%20social%20turmoil,%20with%20rising%20protest%20movements%20on%20%20the%20right%20and%20the%20left,%20and%20a%20pervasive%20sense%20that%20something%20has%20gone%20seriously%20wrong%20with%20global%20economic%20and%20political%20institutions.%20%20I%20think%20part%20of%20what%20motivates%20today%E2%80%99s%20dissatisfaction%20is%20the%20sense%20that%20the%20basic%20social%20contract%20has%20broken%20down.%20%20As%20I%20wrote%20about%20in%20my%20book,%20Inequality%20for%20All%20(2012),%20economic%20inequality%20is%20nothing%20new;%20there%20have%20always%20been%20a%20few%20people%20with%20much%20greater%20resources%20than%20the%20rest.%20%20What%20makes%20it%20possible%20for%20people%20to%20accept%20this%20inequality%20is%20social%20mobility%20%E2%80%93%20the%20ideal%20that%20with%20hard%20work%20and%20a%20little%20luck%20anybody%20can%20reach%20the%20top%20of%20the%20economic%20ladder.%20%20The%20painfully%20slow%20recovery%20from%20the%20Great%20Recession%20has%20contributed%20to%20stagnant%20incomes%20for%20many%20people%20(or%20worse,%20declining%20living%20standards),%20and%20high%20unemployment%20rates%20among%20those%20in%20their%20twenties%20has%20fueled%20fears%20that%20this%20generation%20will%20never%20have%20a%20chance%20to%20succeed.%20Now%20the%20obvious%20response%20to%20this%20dilemma%20is%20to%20try%20and%20jump-start%20the%20economy.%20%20Easier%20said%20than%20done,%20but%20there%20are%20signs%20of%20a%20stronger%20recovery%20(and%20better%20labor%20market)%20in%20the%20United%20States,%20for%20example.%20%20However,%20I%20doubt%20that%20a%20stronger%20economy%20alone%20will%20solve%20the%20underlying%20problem.%20%20The%20reality%20is%20that%20worsening%20inequality%20and%20declining%20social%20mobility%20have%20been%20a%20growing%20problem%20for%20decades.%20%20Instead%20of%20a%20cyclical%20problem,%20what%20we%20really%20face%20is%20a%20structural%20problem.%20%20In%20short,%20the%20critics%20are%20right,%20there%20is%20something%20wrong%20with%20at%20least%20some%20of%20our%20institutions.%20%20%20One%20of%20those%20institutions%20that%20needs%20serious%20reform%20is%20our%20schools.%20%20The%20basic%20idea%20of%20public%20education%20is%20that%20it%20serves%20to%20level%20the%20playing%20field,%20serving%20as%20a%20motor%20for%20social%20mobility%20by%20providing%20equal%20learning%20opportunities%20for%20all%20students.%20%20However,%20in%20research%20published%20last%20year%20my%20colleagues%20and%20I%20discovered%20that%20in%20all%2033%20of%20the%20wealthier%20OECD%20countries%20(including%20countries%20such%20as%20France,%20the%20United%20Kingdom,%20and%20Germany)%20schools%20actually%20make%20inequality%20worse,%20systematically%20giving%20more%20affluent%20students%E2%80%99%20better%20access%20to%20rigorous%20mathematics%20content%20%E2%80%93%20which%20is%20of%20critical%20importance%20in%20today%E2%80%99s%20high-tech%20economy.%20In%20recent%20work%20(to%20be%20published),%20we%E2%80%99ve%20gone%20further,%20finding%20new%20evidence%20that%20our%20educational%20systems%20are%20failing%20to%20level%20the%20playing%20field.%20%20First,%20we%20extended%20our%20research%20to%20non-OECD%20countries,%20many%20of%20which%20are%20developing%20nations%20like%20Malaysia%20and%20Brazil.%20%20We%20found%20virtually%20the%20same%20pattern%20%E2%80%93%20in%20every%20country%20richer%20students%20were%20exposed%20to%20more%20advanced%20mathematics%20content.%20%20We%20have%20also%20uncovered%20powerful%20within-school%20inequality.%20%20Even%20in%20wealthy%20schools,%20being%20relatively%20poorer%20(even%20if%20they%20were%20middle%20class%20by%20national%20standards)%20put%20students%20at%20a%20disadvantage.%20%20Rather%20than%20just%20a%20problem%20of%20high-poverty%20%E2%80%9Cfailing%E2%80%9D%20schools,%20inequality%20is%20marbled%20throughout%20the%20entire%20educational%20system,%20both%20between%20more%20and%20less%20advantaged%20schools%20and%20within%20schools%20of%20every%20type.%20Finally,%20we%20have%20found%20some%20evidence%20that%20schools%20may%20play%20an%20important%20role%20in%20shaping%20economic%20opportunities%20at%20the%20national%20level.%20%20Economists%20(such%20as%20Alan%20Krueger,%20who%20was%20chairman%20of%20the%20council%20of%20economic%20advisors)%20have%20cited%20what%20they%20call%20the%20%E2%80%9CGreat%20Gatsby%20Curve%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%93countries%20with%20higher%20levels%20of%20economic%20inequality%20also%20tend%20to%20have%20lower%20levels%20of%20social%20mobility,%20creating%20a%20negative%20feedback%20loop%20over%20time.%20%20Our%20research%20suggests%20that%20countries%20whose%20educational%20systems%20exhibit%20more%20severe%20inequality%20in%20content%20exposure%20also%20tend%20to%20have%20more%20rigid%20social%20classes.%20In%20other%20words,%20rather%20than%20leveling%20the%20playing%20field,%20schools%20may%20be%20tipping%20the%20scales.%20%20Instead%20of%20providing%20more%20equal%20opportunities,%20the%20inequalities%20that%20are%20rife%20in%20schools%20might%20be%20constraining%20those%20opportunities%20%E2%80%93%20and%20thereby%20calling%20into%20question%20the%20legitimacy%20of%20democracy%20itself.%20Promoting%20more%20equal%20opportunities%20in%20schools%20must%20be%20a%20priority%20for%20every%20country.%20%20Schools%20alone%20can%E2%80%99t%20solve%20the%20underlying%20problems%20facing%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20societies,%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20hard%20to%20imagine%20how%20we%E2%80%99ll%20foster%20greater%20social%20equity%20if%20schools%20are%20not%20part%20of%20the%20solution. (port 80)