California’s adolescents are living in an increasingly complex and chaotic world.  

The public education system plays a unique and essential role in supporting young people as they develop critical thinking skills and make meaning of the rapidly changing world around them. Adolescents are also developing their sense of self – their interests and talents, as well as their identity, purpose, and agency.    

Compulsory, free public education is one of the only universal commitments that the state and nation make to young people, and public schools are tasked with multiple responsibilities: In addition to developing academic knowledge and critical thinking, and nourishing each student’s passion and innate strengths, schools must prepare them for the world of work, to be civically engaged, and for democratic participation as leaders and stewards of that democracy.  Adolescents and the schools that serve them need greater support to fulfill these responsibilities amidst the dynamic changes in our society. 

The Purpose of Education Fund supports and strengthens young people’s sense of belonging, purpose, and agency within our democracy. Through the Purpose of Education Fund, we seek to reassert the role that public education plays in our country’s diverse and changing democracy, making California a national example of schooling that enlivens civic engagement.

To learn more, contact Kathryn Bradley, Director, Purpose of Education Fund, kbradley at stuartfoundation.org