John begins the show by contrasting the traditional framing of education—a source of American pride and upward mobility, he says—with its current presentation as a hotbed of controversy. Should schools teach children about sex and birth control, or about evolution as an established scientific fact, he asks? Ken comments that what makes this a good question is that it brings up the question of who actually has the right to choose what our children are taught about these controversial issues. John and Ken then debate over the role both parents and the state should play in our children’s education.

They are joined by guest Rob Reich, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, and co-editor of Education, Justice, and Democracy. John and Ken begin by asking Rob to make clear the history of American compulsory education, which he informs us, had not become a solidified practice until the early 20^th century. The three then engage in discussion around homeschools, and more specifically around the sort of rights parents may have to the content their children learn. Whereas John argues that we ought to default to parental authority, Ken and Rob argue for the fundamental necessity of developing the student as a citizen, namely in instructing them that—as is undeniably in the independent interest of the student—those who believe things they may think are false are citizens of the state no less.

John, Ken, and Rob then dip into some of the policy that is in effect regarding homeschooling. Here Rob proposes that there should be not only a curricular requirement for such (home) schools, but also a standard of minimal-testing to evaluate student progress outside of the established conventional school. John then calls into question our understanding of children, conventionally classified as those under the age of 18, proposing that perhaps parents can retain on their children the sort of strong ethical hold he argued for earlier, but only until the 5^th or 6^th grades—a point the three philosophers agree upon. They conclude that perhaps the best approach is that, whatever we present, we present it as “potentially falsifiable.”

• Roving Philosophical Report (seek to 6:07): Caitlin Esch speaks to the parents and lawyers of elementary school students in the coastal city of Encenitas, California, the backdrop of a battle within the public school system around the inclusion of required yoga classes. Though the city is divided on the question of whether yoga classes count as religious indoctrination, in attacking the issue it exemplifies the democratic process active in the selection of school curricula.
   
• Sixty-Second Philosopher (seek to 49:11): Ian Shoales talks about his college experience with lesbians and their mutual encounters with established societal norms.