When Schumacher said that education is useless unless it teaches metaphysics, he was saying that it cannot be separated from teaching not only morals, but more deeply, the nature and purpose of reality. When people say they want prayer returned to the public schools, I think what they’re grasping to articulate is not a wish for sectarian piety, but an anxious desire for public schooling to provide their children with a basic metaphysical framework to help them live meaningful lives with a sense of purpose. Those days are over, and they’re not coming back anytime soon.