Education and Democracy

Plato's apprehensions about democracy as a system of government were well-founded, but the possibility of making democracy work, with the help of compulsory education, seems fairly reasonable to me.  Unfortunately, I do not think that the American educational system is currently sufficing to negate the disadvantages of democracy which Plato feared.

While education is compulsory in the United States, I do not think that it is the right kind of education.  Yes, teaching mathematics and science to people is useful, and may help them later in life in many ways, but it does not contribute all that much to their ability to distinguish good politicians from bad ones.  As it is now, the educational system is teaching people what to think, not how to think; and that, I believe, is a mistake.  If education focused on teaching people how to think, they could then learn for themselves what to think, and could choose what to learn about (what is the point of someone taking advanced mathematics if they intend to have a career as a painter?), thus not wasting effort on useless pursuits.

I think that the educational system has lost sight of its original purpose (namely, to educate people in order for them to contribute well to society and the government).  It seems mainly to focus on grades for grades' sake, or in order to get into college (to get yet MORE grades) and then get a well-paying job - so, a person who scored moderately highly in all their subjects in high school might get into Berkeley School of Music, whereas someone who has incredible interest and talent with playing musical instruments but failed their History requirements would not be able to attend.  This sort of system seems to result in people working for their entire lives in careers they do not enjoy, and then not knowing how to think well enough to elect leaders who will act in their best interests.  Education as a way to make democracy possible is a nice theory, but at the moment I don't think it is really working in the United States of America.