Final answer:
A Marxist theorist would argue that schools reinforce social inequalities by teaching students to accept the status quo and remain subordinate, especially through disparities in available resources and tracking. These practices perpetuate class structure and maintain elite power dynamics within society.
Step-by-step explanation:
A Marxist theorist of education would critique schools for socializing children to accept the status quo because schools teach skills that make students subordinate. This is deeply rooted in the concept of conflict theory within sociology, which argues that the educational system reinforces and perpetuates social inequalities arising from differences in class, gender, race, and ethnicity. Instead of serving as a means to reduce social inequality, conflict theorists argue that schools train working-class students to accept and maintain their position as lower members of society, which is reflected in the disparity of resources between richer and poorer neighborhoods as well as through the mechanisms of tracking and testing.
Conflict theorists see the education system as preserving the status quo and conditioning people of lower status into obedience. Schools, according to this view, are part of a larger societal structure that perpetuates class differences and upholds the power dynamics that favor the elite. For example, tracking within schools can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies where students internalize and live up to the expectations set for them, further entrenching class divisions.