How schools are structured and what they teach play a key role in determining how rich a society is, who is rich in that society, and who has political power in that society. The lessons of history (and lessons from today) teach us that political and economic elites shape educational institutions to their benefit. Sometimes, this is also to the benefit of society at large, and sometimes not: we should not expect elites to hold open the door for non-elites – this will only happen if it is in elites’ interest.