Introduction
America by the time of the 2020's had a semi de-segregated school system with less then reliable coverage, this has only gotten worse. In 2070's America, true educational is a right defined by your zip code, race and class with any three of the factors potentially killing your chances. Education has underwent various reforms, while success ratios in most public schools have soared far beyond any imaginable height, the type of people allowed to succeed has become extremely narrow.
All schools also teach a fluffy version of US history, including lost cause narratives, Violent and anti religious sentiment that translates into anti Semitism and islamophobia as well as churning out generations of blindly patriotic brainwashed citizens which only enabled the government further.
Early School - Middle School
Many kids eligible for schooling are placed into schools based on their zip code and zip codes is heavily influenced by your class which was also often affected by your race. Meaning that most successful Early and Middle schools are overwhelmingly white with Asians & Hispanic People as the second most prevalent ethnicities in schools. In this era of school many are taught the basics from practical mathematics, to Reading and writing classes.
Science is also important as the foundations of all fields are set out and various other basic skills with a few trips to places like power plants, zoos, school camps and what not dotted between.
High School - College
Anywhere from 50-70% of students wash out by High school due to zip codes and class, this is because semi reliable funding ends after this point, with under preforming campuses being bureaucratic hellscapes. The privileged few go on to enter some of the best schools in America, receiving hyper successful more progressive educations with tons of trips, doing stuff and learning with highly successful clubs that teach students for their future classes.
Some campuses have both schooling levels within it. Companies select future employees through these schools gifting high performing students sponsorships that'd make their diplomas mean something, but there was another way to succeed for those who fell behind and for many, another way to prove their supremacy over everyone else.
The Scholarship Games
Created in 2034, The Scholarship Games are one of the primary means of getting a school a grant in their funding as most property owners are now higher class thus not viable to tax for funding. So schools enroll into the scholarship games, a highly commercialized competition where the top ten gain funding boosts while the top 30 often get stagnating grants and those below them lose money.
These games pit the crème of the crops in highly competitive games of wits, mathematics and psychical feats. The highest performing teams were then allowed to send their best to the Gauntlet, a dystopian Hunger games-esq competition where young adults are put through dangerous conditions and are hunted down by 'psychos' masked murderers hired by the game to serve as a persistent threat to contestants.
These events are massive PR and advertising opportunities. Allowing for a hierarchy of schools to form who became the common winners with the east coast champions often being Crystal prep, New York City.
Unlike the Hunger Games Students choose without coercion (usually) to attend and rather being an event of national unity the messaging is clear, the games is the ultimate form of survival of the fittest. Only the best of the best would succeed and this sick program was credited to the high success rates of so many schools. Even if such a thing makes zero sense.
Changing Tide
Despite the absolute domination of Segregation and Jingoism in Education, more and more schools on the outskirts teach the true version of history and teach students how to succeed in this elitist system and how to slowly deprive the higher class of their money. Some schools have steadily been adopting more and more minorities to replace the difference in lost funds and absent mindedly passed acts such as the Equal Education Act in New York have accidently breaking down segregation protections allowing for more diverse education in New York.
This is called the Purple Wave, a silent growing mass of revolutionary minds being educated stealthily in under preforming schools and secretive clubs in large academies. Other schools who slide behind without being revolutionarily minded also adopt minorities to get money from the city for abiding by their policies like Canterlot High College, in these schools similar courses are sneaking into the curriculum
Curriculum
What does the average student learn you might ask? Depending on their choices they could learn various things but almost every single one of them starts the day by pledging absolute allegiance to the country and is brought up on a steady diet of propaganda to make them think uncritically about the government but critically enough to excel in their future jobs for companies.
The average student learns at least a little about capitalism but from a specifically Corporatists Lense. Subservience is another thing they teach kids, to not resist abuse but accept it as a necessary part of life for civilization to go on. Each student is literate and if not they're immediately ejected by the time they reach High school and their records no longer counted among education records to maintain peak success rates.
Students are also capable with mathematics and reading comprehension. Every student by High School is proficient enough with Science to learn more independently or focus in fields of science. Every student has a 'special' understanding of US history with few dissenters and all of them known every national song and jingle by heart with failures punished. As discussed before trips are common by high school with the interest of inspiring students to pick jobs early on to focus on their sponsorships and eventual success.
Technology is also a vital field and every student must be tech savvy or they will find extreme difficulty in getting any job at all.
How Success is measured
To succeed you need to mold yourself into the person that society wants you to be, performing well in classes and exhibitions will get your corporate sponsorships and endorsements which will heighten your chance at success when school finishes. There is also a Compliance rating where A.I rates your every action and word, adding or taking away from your rating. Those with high ratings are favored by the government and thus see far greater success then those who are disobedience.
While it is important that you succeed in your subjects, high anti civility ratings will instantly sink any chance of success you have. The name of the game is compliance and conformity with the masses. Companies don't want whistleblowers as employees so the less moral integrity you have and the more blind loyalty you possess will also affect your chances of success later on. Race is also another important factor as is class, both of which can weigh negatively on your compliance rating due to lower class peoples and minorities gaining far higher scrutiny then anyone else, increasing the rate of failure in that school demographic.
Any any form of Unionization will also plummet your rating as well, trying to Unionize the school suggests anti corporate sentiment and vulnerability to revolutionary causes so students are isolated and atomized, force to comply with whatever standard is placed upon them. If you also fail patriotic quizses, fail to sing the anthem or pledge your allegiance, your rating will also suffer.
Punishment Regime
Even in the most regulated schools there is misbehavior and most schools have tiered systems of rule violations, each tier has a selection of unique punishments with extremely severe violations including arrests, summary Executions and extreme floggings to ensure 'peak' obedience. None of this is illegal and has been allowed since the 2030's with those challenging this draconian regime getting into trouble themselves and some disappearing entirely.
Tier 0: Minor Infractions
These include class clowning, typical mishaviour and general disorder and these normally result in detentions and words with parents but are largely unimportant to the overall trajectory of your education and will be forgotten unless used as case study data in criminal investigations.
Tier 1: Moderate Violations
These Include Minor 'Anti Civil' behaviour which includes re-education sessions, floggings and in extreme cases, lashing with a whip. To get this you must perform vandalism, outwardly questioning school material and questioning the US Government. Really bad pranks can also result in these overblown reactions and cruel punishments.
Tier 2: Anti Civil Violation
If you continue to display divergent behaviour it will eventually elevate to Tier 2 which includes solitary confinement, harsh and rigorous re-education sessions including police interviews. Major display of Anti civil beliefs can elevate this to the most extreme measures.
Tier 3: Final Violation
Failure to conform and failure to obey will eventually lead you to two outcomes, either imprisonment into labour camps or worse as human cattle for experiments or summary execution handed out by the Detective reviewing your case and if you're lucky, you might get a court appearance if your parents still hold enough sway for such things.
How is Anti Civil behaviour Defined?
While disobedience is to be expected of teenagers, invasive A.I surveillance is able to measure the overall development of students and able to recognize 'divergent' tendencies in young people. Those who espouse pro ecological beliefs, socialist Beliefs or just broadly Pro democratic beliefs are captured and re-educated, promoting conformity and uniformity in students. Those who are divergent are ordinarily any flavour of Anti Authoritarian and will have a bad time in school if they do not learn to mask and hide their true beliefs under a thick coat of paint.
Anti Civil behaviour drops your Compliance rating by a few points and while you can get these back, too much loss will result in suspicion. Religious beliefs can also earn you anti civility ratings, while it is notably softer on Christians for the moment. Muslims, Hindus, jews and otherwise get harsh treatment, their religious beaten and coerced out of them to adopt the radical ashiest position.
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