What does the following quote from To Kill a Mockingbird mean?"School started. The second grade was as bad as the first they still flashed cards...

One final comment: the use of the generic "they" for the school system, together with "flash cards" and "wouldn't let" you signify the authoritative methodology of the school system, where knowledge was obtained passively rather than uncovered actively and with ambition. Such a system would necessarily teach that each of us has a place in society, and that place should be accepted rather than resisted. In this way, the school reflects the larger social structure of Maycomb in regards to gender and race:  it flashes small sound bites of words rather than complicated ideas and "won't let you" do various things, depending on your position, gender, and color.  As for what this says about Scout's character:  this system is the context in which she will have to forge her character, in part by resisting its message but also by learning its rules.