The educational system in the USA - Spatio-social disparities and egalitarian versus elitist ideals

'Schooling', 'education' and qualification' are topics emphatically debated by the American public. Hardly any other society is as conscious of educat ional matters as the American one. Some examples presented here are to show the influence various public status quo reports had on American educationa l politics in the past four decades. This paper focuses on the traditional idealogical foundations of political culture in the United States and on some implications for the educational s ystem. Concepts of 'democracy' and 'egalitarianism' on the one hand as well as 'freedom' and 'individualism' on the other hand - all of them directly legitimized by the 'Declaration of Independence' and the 'Constitution' - a re among the most important features of the American political culture. The y also apply to the educational system: direct control by local school boar ds and the increasing importance of the private school sector are but two e xamples. The pattern of spatial disparities shows two extremes, namely the Northeast, particularly New England, and the Deep South respectively. Moreo ver a specific feature of American culture, though primarily an economic ra ther than a political one, shapes schooling and education, too: 'monetarism ' results in marked differences between the educational systems of the Unit ed States and of Europe. Finally the paper discusses the position of some ethnic minority groups wit h respect to structural disparities of schooling. For a number of generatio ns African Americans were practically barred from any kind of formal school ing, and only since the end of the 19th century there was some - segregated - schooling. The Hispanics were even more isolated, and attempts at assimi lation were more pronounced. Their educational status still is highly unfav ourable. The theretical foundations of the school systems and the education al situation of these two minorities are contrasted.