Some Reflections.

The paper presents comments of the author on the article "The Alternative Before Us," by Harry G. Johnson. The author heartily concurs with nearly everything in Johnson's thoughtful paper that hears upon current problems of providing equity in education. However, the author cannot quite concur in his description of the history of education in the U.S. and Europe. Differences were more basic than Johnson allows. Native as well as foreign-born Americans typically believed that a child should and could rise above the station of his parents and that the most effective route was to obtain more education than his parents had. School attendance requirements were lax; but vast members of students chose to remain in school after departure was legally permitted. Parents demanded expansion of facilities to accommodate them. In Europe, in contrast, the vast majority lacked faith in economic and social advancement through education. Much of the inequality stems from higher education, but this does not mean that a program to equalize public expenditures for investment in youth should be limited to higher education.