Even one of defendants' experts, John Murphy, the President of Education Partners, testified, I would think that a school system has a responsibility to prepare all of its children to compete in this society, yes. He then agreed with the statement that to “compete in society means to get a good, productive job.” 20 In 1894, there were in total 96 universities and colleges with 23,835 students in New York. There were also in total 437 high schools with 45,036 students (3 Lincoln, Constitutional History of the State of New York, at 549-450). At the national level, only 10 percent of teenagers were enrolled in high school in 1900. Forty years later, the percentage had risen to 70 percent. The figure now is about 95 percent (Diane Ravitch, American Traditions of Education, p. 13, in A Primer on America's Schools, [2001]). In 1960, about 41 percent of adults had a high school diploma. By 1998, that figure was 82 percent. About the same percentage of adults in New York have a high school diploma (Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone [2000]). Education Law § 3505 (/nyctap-cgi/ez-nylaw?EDN+3505) requires children from age six to 16, with certain exceptions, to attend full time instruction. A person under 21 years old who has not received a high school diploma is entitled to attend for free the public school in his or her district (Education Law § 3202[1]). 21 It is already the official policy of the Regents that an education should prepare children “to compete successfully in today's demanding global society.” It is also worth noting that a 1996 National Education Summit attended by 44 governors and 44 chief executive officers of major national corporations adopted, on behalf of the President of the United States, the policy statement that “the primary purpose of education is to prepare students to flourish in a Democratic society and to work successfully in a global economy” (emphasis added). 22 Dr. Sobol initiated a 13-year quest to determine the skills that a sound basic education should provide. Dr. Sobol spearheaded the creation of seven “curriculum committees, each in key areas of the school curriculum” composed of experts from just about every field. The Learning Standards are the work product of these committees. According to Dr. Sobol, the Learning Standards “operationalize the conditions that would lead to a sound basic education.” The Learning Standards were not entirely completed during Dr. Sobol's tenure, and the work was continued by his successor, Dr. Richard Mills. According to Commissioner Mills, the Learning Standards seek to ensure that “all students in New York are prepared to be citizens, to, in other words, be able to vote