An updated version of Simple Justice, the classic analysis of Brown vs Topeka Board of Education, is being released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the decision.

Slate today did a review of the book and its findings. I thought this was interesting:

If we think about schools broadly, as institutions that train not only workers who need cognitive skills but tolerant citizens who aspire to live in a unified democracy, then racial separation is intolerable. Kluger quotes the words of Marshall in his dissent in the Milliken case: "Unless our children begin to learn together, there is little hope that our people will ever learn to live together."

Two questions come to mind; 1) What is the role of public education? 2) Does the above quote take the "industrial" view that education is only for future work experience?