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I'm in the military, so I'm going to have to agree that uniforms do work. You can't really make any assumptions about other people (socioeconomically speaking), so you have to actually learn something about them (or see them in civilian clothes). Generally, by the time you've learned anough about someone to pigeonhole them, you know them too well for stereotypes to fit.
Uniforms. NOT excessively restrictive dress codes. If you just say "black slacks, white dress shirt, tie, dress shoes" there will be a huge variation in quality and appearance. It will be easier to make these judgements, because you know what the common goal is. If you see someone in fucked up crappy casual clothes... are they poor or are they trying to look ghetto punk?
It will have to be specified brands for every item of clothing (ideally, you would give a list of where the uniform items can be ordered) and specified regulations of how they are to be worn. No personalization. You are a faceless cog in the education machine. The same sorts of standards must be applied to teachers and administrators.
I don't think schools have the authority to enforce the level of control required for uniforms to be effective though (and I really don't think the teachers and administrators would go for it, either). I also think the half-assed attempts they can make do more harm than good. I'm also not too sure if the "faceless cog" mindset that makes uniforms work is something I want being taught anyway.
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Simple Machines in Higher Dimensions
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