The purpose of school

I believe that the purpose of school is defined differently for everyone it effects. For myself, school was a vehicle to a life that had more substance to it than what my parents' lives had. I gained the intrinsic feeling that I could be great and that I could do something worthwhile. People who helped instill these feelings in me were teachers. I often felt guilty that I thought more highly of them than I did my own parents. I believe my parents resented that during my school years, and maybe still do now, as I continue to take classes and move forward in my professional career. They, themselves were not part of any academic institution during their lives. They don't understand.
As teachers, it should be our duty of "light the fires" of young minds. To encourage them to expand their horizons and discover the world, which is full of opportunity and diversity. In an urban school, such as mine, our kids think that their city is the farthest place they're ever gonna go. They have no concept of the world and its geography. They don't leave. They don't go on vacation. Schools have no money for fieldtrips. Because they are limited in their location, they are limited in their outlook on life and the larger world around them.
Students need to find a purpose for themselves, a goal to aspire to before they can find value in the institution that will lead them there. There can be no purpose for them to be there if they don't find value within its walls. When students live with cockroaches, drug dealers, addicts, abusers, victims, 8 other siblings, only their mother, and an empty stomach, the last thing on their mind is the Pythagorean Theorem or the conjugation of verbs. When will the institution recognize that the human condition must be recognized before academic learning can occur.
Years ago, our school was working on building relationships between students and teachers. We were helping children see the value in their community. They were performing service learning and taking ownership in their town. They were empowered and they wanted a cleaner and well-kept place to live. They were helping the homeless and reading to the elderly and the very young. Our school was turning a corner because students felt good about themselves and their ability to achieve. Last year, that stopped. New administration over the past two years are not from our neighborhood. They are concerned with test scores and data now. Service learning ceases to exist and a gray cloud has once again been hung over our school and community.
Please note Banks Curriculum Reform Model level 4: The Social Action Approach and the Cor Curriculum model citing community service.