Our current public school system is not ideal, and it fails in more than one category. Gatto describes the “integrating function” of the public school system, on page 36, which is intended to have children conform to a set standard and be as similar as possible. I have personally seen this in effect as my younger brother, a high school sophomore at the time, called me to complain that on his math exam he got the correct answer for a question but did not receive credit because he did not use the exact method the teacher expected of him. On one hand, the public school system has offered an education to millions of children who otherwise would be unable to afford schooling if privatized education was the only alternative. A country-wide public school system is an incredible undertaking and does need to have certain standards to ensure quality across the board. However, I struggle to see why this must be done in such a way that takes creativity out of the question. Not everyone learns or thinks in the same way, so if figuring out a different method can help a student understand better or work more efficiently, it should be rewarded instead of penalized. Ultimately, problems require creative solutions, otherwise they would not be problems to begin with, and stripping the population of the ability to think critically basically cements their place as “sitting ducks” who are at the mercy of those in power (page 37).