How do the right schools serve as salvation?
The official purpose of school is to educate the masses so that they will have knowledge and skills to use in society. In this way a student who comes from poverty can find salvation from their poor neighborhoods. Schools also have an underlying curriculum teaching behavior and obedience, skills that are needed in the corporate world. While some may argue that the lessons you learn in school won't help you in life I agree and disagree. The skills and knowledge learned in school help in society not necessarily in life, these two are not the same. In rare cases a teacher will give their students lessons that they can use in life, this is found mostly in alternative schools, since its hard to learn life lessons out of a text book.
Some may argue that school doesn't serve as a form of salvation, using the fact that a large number of high school graduates still end up on the streets and have no jobs. Schools are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but in those cases there are many aspects to consider, did the student study hard enough and really work through school? were the teachers of that school adequate and able to teach what was needed? There could have been many flaws in that system, but a well running system works to level the playing field between the poor and the rich.
School can serve as salvation from a variety of problems. It can be a salvation from poverty, racism and ignorance because of the lessons taught in school and the diverse environments in schools, (although segregated schools and schools with few ethnic students exist I choose to focus on the schools that are more diverse).
Salvation from Poverty
In several super teacher films we see young kids coming from impoverished neighborhoods, who just want to get through school or get through life, but then a teacher comes along who can inspire their students to do well in school and succeed. In these movies the students are given lessons in their subject matter but they're also given useful practical information. In "Dangerous Minds" the teacher teaches her students Karate, in "To Sir, With Love" the teacher teaches his students how to act properly, practice good hygiene and cook. Each of these skills can help the students survive on their own. On top of survival skills these students are taught conventional subjects in a new and interesting way that helps them in life. In "Stand and Deliver" the teacher has his class take the AP calculus exams which give them a head start in college and give these kids an actual chance at going to college.
Salvation from racism
Schools are good places to meet people, as a student every other student is your peer and you can relate to all of them on the most basic level because they share teachers or have the same interests etc. Public schools especially help students to see other people and, if the school is in a good area, other cultures and races. The best way to get rid of racism is to interact peacefully with people of other races. In "Freedom Writers" the teacher has her students sit next to people of other races to integrate them on a personal level. While schools don't have to be so blatant or literal in their integration, the way classes are designed, people of different races should be interacting, educating those students about those other races.
Salvation from Ignorance
In these films schools are meant to teach kids about the world, but have gotten caught up in grades or have small budgets etc. and have strayed from that goal. When the teacher comes in they re-establish the true goal of schooling, to reveal the truth to the students. In "Freedom Writers" the teacher tells her students about the Nazis and the Holocaust, the students have no idea that the Nazis ever existed and deny that they existed. However towards the end of the movie the teacher dispels these doubts and educates her students about the civil rights movement and opens their minds to history and popular literature. This is an example of how schools can get rid of ignorance, by teaching students what they need to know to function in society, things like history, knowing how we got to where we are as a country and as a people. Schools teach facts that allow students to hold their own in conversation and understand why things are the way they are.
Conclusion
The right schools and the right teachers can salvage students from poverty, ignorance and racism through education and forced integration. I emphasize the word right, because not every school is ethnically diverse and not every school will have teachers that can give students the information they need to survive. That being said, I think the system itself works and there are many examples of people who have become successful and evaded poverty by working through the school system. While schools have their problems, like the oppression of students or mandatory curriculums, these things are needed. Students need to learn obedience and discipline to function in society and a mandatory curriculum helps students to learn things and possibly find subject they love that they wouldn't have studied on their own if given a choice in their curriculum. Institutionalized schooling should be experimented with, but the system works, and functions as a form of salvation for some students.
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