Did public schools build economies, or did economies build public schools?

We find that public schools offered practically zero return education on the margin, yet they did enjoy significant political and financial support from local political elites, if they taught in the “right” language of instruction.

One thing that both progressives and libertarians agree upon are that social goals of education are woefully underappreciated and considered in the current school reform discussion. Both school choice and local, democratic control of schools are reactions to centralization resulting in “elites… [selecting] the ‘right’ language of instruction.”

I am inclined to agree with neither.