This booklet provides an analysis of the American educational system from a socialist perspective. Based on the idea that our past and present educational system has been largely determined by the needs and ideology of the capitalist economic system, the author proposes an alternative society and educational system that places human needs above private profit. The booklet is divided into three sections which analyze the past, present, and alternative future educational systems. The first section examines how the capitalist ideology influenced the development of our educational system through such concepts as tracking, political indoctrination in history courses, and the direct and indirect capitalistic control of school administration. Section two explains the school socialization process under capitalism and how the capitalist system benefits from this process. It focuses on how punctuality and attendance, obedience to authority, competition and individualism, sexism and racism, and acceptance of boredom contribute to the capitalist ideology. Section three outlines the Chinese and Cuban educational systems as examples of socialist countries that have made great strides in the development of their educational systems. (Author/DE)