“But it was in making education not only common to all, but in some sense compulsory on all, that the destiny of the free republics of America was practically settled.”

This would be fine if education was left at the state and especially local levels, but JFK had to make a national indoctrine of it at the federal level.

ummm, maybe a little bit from a government perspective.

Yes, the destiny of the free republics were settled with compulsory education — unfortunately that destiny is now servitude.  Compulsory education was not to help form fresh philosophers and thinkers or independent minds.  It was based on German compulsory education to produce obedient workers.  Only through the compelled content that teaches the young that they are beholden to government authority and require permission to work, required to hand over 1/3 of one's earnings or face imprisonment, and now much more — complete disempowerment of the individual as a sacrifice to a political class.  Most of today's successful entrepreneurs dropped out of schools — schools cannot teach that. ;-)