Education is a problem when it fails to fulfill its expected functions: creating good and effective citizens, providing the possibility for upward mobility, and facilitating individual development. For these purposes education is highly valued by Americans. Lack of education is frequently associated with failure to achieve one's ambitions in life.

America has become an increasingly educated society. Whether this education has yielded the expected payoffs is not always clear. The greater degree of happiness reported by the highly educated may reflect a tendency toward greater fulfillment of individual potential. Education increases political participation and understanding. There is a strong relationship between education and income, but those most likely to benefit from education are already in the middle and upper strata.

Education is a problem because there are inequalities, and the expected payoff does not always occur. Educational attainment is unequally distributed among various groups. Educational funding is unequally distributed among states and school districts within states. The cost of education prices many Americans out of the better colleges and universities. The learning atmosphere of some schools (critics would say nearly all schools) is rigid and joyless and precludes individual schedules of learning; sometimes students suffer an atmosphere of fear and threat or ritualized deprivation.

In the 1980s and 1990s, a series of reports charged that American education is in danger of being overwhelmed by mediocrity. The mediocrity affects education at every level and applies to student performance, faculty performance, administrative functioning, and academic programs. Many Americans believe that a particular kind of deficiency afflicts the schools--a non- or anti-Christian bias--and they have opted to send their children to Christian schools.

Among the social structural factors that contribute to the problems of education, social class and family background are particularly important. The organization of education also makes a difference in students' achievement and attainment. Particularly important are the distribution of funds, the assignment of teachers, the socioeconomic composition of the student body, and the evaluation and labeling of ability. The inequitable distribution of funds is a political issue that must be resolved by political action. Finally, the quality of education varies with the economy. Both recessions and inflation drain the resources available to schools.

Attitudes of parents, students, and teachers are important social psychological factors that contribute to the problems of education. The attitudes of parents and students toward school and intellectual activities, and toward the educational potential of the students are strongly related to achievement. Teacher attitudes can inhibit or facilitate student achievement.

Our analysis implies that when the various contributing factors are taken into account, children of different social backgrounds have the same capacity for achievement. The Office of Education survey supports this position. Given the same socioeconomic background, family background, attitudes, and the like, there is only about a 1 percent difference in the achievement scores of the various racial and ethnic groups.