Public education at the crossroads: The loss of the sense of public education

Abstract

The paper has the aim to analyze the neoliberal and mercantilist educational policies that are placing public education and schooling at a crossroads, which can lead to its demise. To do this, and firstly, we discuss the possible framework -codes- needed to understand, in context, the economic policy -neoliberalism- that has helped to reach the current situation. Second, we try to identify a very simple but essential sense to what is public and what it means. Third, we will discuss in some detail, the variants that have adopted the commodification of education and the disastrous consequences that flow from them, for the immediate future of public education.