Balancing access and advantage in the history of American schooling

In this paper, I will focus on the dual role that schooling plays in a liberal democracy, by promoting both access and advantage for citizen-consumers. Justice in a political democracy has continually called for making schools accessible, but the persistent inequality in a market economy has continually called for preserving social advantage through the stratification of the school system.
To tell this story, I will draw on the history of American schooling between 1830 and the present. The story will focus on the swings between access and advantage in the American system during three eras of educational expansion and transformation:
Common school era: Opening up universal access to elementary school, accompanied by (and made possible by) the advantage offered by the uncommon high school.
Progressive era: The rapid expansion of access to high school, with the corresponding stratification of high school and the move by middle class students into college.
Mid 20th century: The rapid expansion of access to college, with the corresponding stratification of higher education and the move by middle class students into graduate school.