John Taylor identifies problems in the American system of public education that are very real, such as the categorization of children by academic performance. Taylor states that “we have been taught (that is, schooled) in this country to think of “success” as synonymous with, or at least dependent upon, ‘schooling'” (34), and the result is that institutions prefer to provide resources for children who appear more likely to be successful according to their performance in school. This is a very limited method of selection because it excludes people who may excel in areas that cannot be measured in subjects taught at school. Thus, the public education system often promotes the importance of obedience to a set of rules and expectations over creativity and independent thought. However, Taylor does not detail a specific solution to remedy the faults of the current system besides giving general guidelines (34) that one could interpret any number of ways and saying that educated men and women should be allowed to “manage themselves” (38). Additionally, he does not seem to consider the possible benefits of the modern school system. Public schools provide free education, and their respective states hold them accountable for their academic performance, a basic measure against mismanagement. They also usually provide a number of free or inexpensive extracurricular activities for interests outside of the classroom that some children may not have otherwise been able to explore. It is easy to point out the problems with the current public education system in America, and doing so is important to draw awareness to such shortcomings. The difficulty lies in introducing feasible alternatives that would effectively end them.