Chapter 742: Gotham 1990_4

He leaned back in his chair, holding his wine glass, and said, "But the most important issue now is the education of the children."

"There are 23 community elementary schools in all of Gotham, which may sound like a lot. But for a major city on the East Coast, this number is pitifully small. Even if you don't compare it with Metropolis and only with Brude Haven, the area of Brude Haven is only one-fifth of Gotham's, but they have 16 elementary schools."

"This is actually in violation of the law, but because the previous mayor didn't take any steps, no change was made."

"There's even less middle schools, and only one university. Even compared to the west, the education conditions could be considered pathetic."

Shiller gently tapped the table with his fingertips and asked, "Do you think it's because the people of Gotham don't want to be educated, so there's fewer schools, or because there are fewer schools, the people of Gotham are unwilling to be educated?

Gordon paused for a moment and said, "I think it's the former. Because I saw in the documents that Gotham City originally had more than forty schools. But later, several schools were closed for a variety of reasons, with law and order issues accounting for the majority."

Shiller shook his head and said, "I think it's the latter."

"I would like to hear more," said Gordon.

"Recently, I read the book 'History of City Building on the East Coast' which mentioned the situation in Gotham. Initially, all of Gotham's schools were established by the church or funded by wealthy families as private schools, there were hardly any public elementary schools."

"The churches and private elementary schools monopolized the education here, which meant that most citizens lost the opportunity to be educated. Church schools only admitted a small portion of the citizens, and private schools funded by individual investors were only open to wealthy children."

"Later, crime in Gotham City began to worsen and some of the wealthy people left, so their investments were interrupted and schools were abandoned. Even later, the church also began to ignore this city of sin. Nowadays, the only elementary schools that are still operating are either invested by the Twelve Families or the Wayne Family."

"Neither in terms of quantity nor quality can they sustain the educational requirements of such a large city. Over time, the majority of Gotham citizens are limited by their educational level, and they can't engage in technical work."

Gordon fell into deep thought and said, "I really haven't paid attention to this issue, but why weren't there any public elementary schools when Gotham was established? Didn't the State Council care?"

Shiller shook his head. Although previous efforts by Lucifer had wiped out the existence of the Court of Owls, Gotham didn't really improve. This could imply that the characterization of Gotham as a city of sin might be part of the fundamental rules of the DC Universe. With the Court of Owls gone, there might be other forces at play.

In any case, someone has definitely interfered with the development of education in Gotham. Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible for a city in America at the end of the 20th century to have most people without even an elementary education.

"To improve the citizens' educational level, we need to establish elementary schools. To establish elementary schools, we need money. To have money, we need to develop new industries. To develop new industries, we need to improve citizens' educational level. It's like a vicious circle," Gordon covered his forehead with his hand and said, "But getting corporations and mobs involved in school construction is not viable."

"The mobs have already started to organize schools on their own," Shiller placed a piece of shrimp into his mouth and said, "But they are destined not to develop systematic education. If they lack electricians, they pull people to learn electrical work, if they lack security personnel, they pull people for security training. No one would want to teach grammar, calculation, art, and logical thinking at the same time."

"That's where the problem lies," Shiller shook his head, "They have no idea what systematic education is really teaching. They think the idea that you should learn something when you don't know it, is very correct."

"I considered this problem before," Gordon stroked his cheek and said, "I used to think, if I don't plan on being a musician, why should I take music lessons? If my work now doesn't involve calculations, why should I study arithmetic?"

"As I've said before, the learning process is actually helping people develop their way of thinking. But it's hard to explain this to the mob, they want to see results tomorrow."

Shiller gently tapped the plate with his fork and said, "I've discussed this issue with Victor and Anna, and we believe we should establish a vocational middle school for those who want to learn technical skills."

"Once technical skills are learned, this could improve their living standards, expand their horizons, and make people aware of the importance of systematic education. They might then allow their children to receive a systematic education like people in other cities. This is a relatively conservative method."

Gordon nodded in agreement, but Shiller said, "The problem lies in the fact that this technical school must remain pure. We cannot let this turn into a gang war."

"Some mobs want more electricians, some are in charge of the water supply and naturally need talent in this area. Even among the Twelve Families, they each have their own focuses. They want the school to only teach one subject so that they can fit more students in, but as you know, that's not possible."

Gordon sighed regretfully and said, "In a city where no force can suppress the mob, confronting them is very difficult. Gotham Police Department may be able to provide some level of security, but we definitely can't fight against the Twelve Families."