Schooling vs. Education

One of the most pervasive fallacies in American culture is the idea that schooling equals education. Social scientists and news media routinely conflate the two.

What schooling really is, is the cost of education, or you might say the tax on education. The school is a brick-and-mortar institution with multiple layers of administration. The school is expensive. Society should avoid this expense wherever possible, and definitely avoid it if the institution is not providing education.

One aspect of the "school is education" fallacy is separation of the spheres. The school becomes unworldly, and the world becomes uneducational.

Alternatives to schooling include:

• Self-education (weaning)
• On-the-job training
• Apprenticeship

Society should provide as many escape routes as possible from the school system.