Much of America’s prominence and prosperity is due to the fact that it has led the world in mass education.
Even without a public school system, it had one of the highest literacy rates in the world in the 19th century. We were one of the first companies to offer public school to young people through 12th grade.
We were the first country to open college doors to children of all income levels through the post-World War II GI Bill.
But today, American public education is under siege. Public school teachers and librarians have become punching bags in political warfare. Teachers are underpaid and under too much stress.
College tuition is becoming more and more out of reach for more children, administrators and institutions are consuming more and more resources, and professors and graduate assistants are falling behind. Schools are now battlegrounds for partisan political warfare. Job satisfaction among public school teachers is at its lowest level in 50 years.
Thousands of people are leaving the profession, and fewer and fewer college students are taking it.
Florida provides a good example.
“The fight against wokeism”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has made the “fight against wakeism” a central part of his political campaign. He signed multiple “educational gag orders,” criminalizing classroom discussions of race, gender, and history that could cause white students to “feel guilt, pain, or other emotional distress.” It is something to do.
Books will be removed from school libraries and librarians will be at risk if they do not comply. Even Shakespeare’s teachings are censored in some areas as too racy for children to hear (too often those same children share much more shocking content on social media) .
Florida ranks 48th in the nation for teacher salaries. Now, teachers are not only unpaid, but also attacked, vilified, and threatened, and not only can they lose their jobs, but they can also face criminal charges.
The result, not surprisingly, was that some of the brightest and best teachers headed north. When DeSantis took office in 2019, Florida already had a shortage of 2,217 K-12 teachers, The Nation Magazine reported.
By the time he took office for his second term four years later, that number had more than doubled. In August of this year, the Florida Education Association reported that the number of unfilled positions was an unimaginable 7,000. The destructiveness of DeSantis’ war against woke discrimination will likely be felt for a generation.
center of controversy
As public institutions that interact with children, schools have always been at the center of controversy. In the South, racial segregation forced separate but unequal schools and separated children by race.
As detailed by Jonathan Kozol, in the North, public schools reflected the “terrible inequalities” of neighborhood wealth and racial disparities.
Busing to school is commonplace across the United States, but it became a lightning rod when courts ordered busing to integrate schools in major metropolitan areas.
In countries with the highest teaching capacity, teachers are treated with respect and paid well. In Finland, which ranks highest in international tests, admission to teachers’ colleges is fiercely competitive.
Teachers are provided with the essential resources, supplementary materials, and classroom size to do their jobs well. In the United States, teachers spend an average of about $700 out of their own pocket on school supplies, with teachers in the poorest areas spending the most.
Passionate debates about what to teach, what books to read, and what history to tell are inevitable.
We want our children to learn about America’s victories, but we also can’t whitewash our history and make it look like a fairy tale.
Learn both sides
Children also need to learn about our victories and failures, our fears, and our embarrassing stories. If you don’t admit your mistakes, you can’t learn from them.
In a time of partisan polarization, when social issues such as abortion, race, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and immigration are at the center of political turmoil, it is inevitable that schools will participate in these discussions.
Teachers are inevitably at the center of such discussions, not just witnessing them, but actively participating in them.
Those with classroom experience may have the best insight into what works and what doesn’t.
We do not want partisan politicians to use our schools as a platform for political activities. We want teachers to be respected and free to express their opinions and share their expertise.
We want parents to be able to participate and express their values, hopes and fears. Somehow these common sense ideas that most people would agree with are too often lost in the fight.
Even in the midst of ongoing debate, we must remember to respect and honor those who choose to teach our children.
We must remember that one teacher who can unleash children’s imaginations and cultivate their curiosity can change lives.
Thomas Jefferson believed that public education was essential to democracy and that well-educated citizens were happier and could build vibrant communities. Indeed, that’s a lesson we should all remember.
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. is the past president and CEO of the Rainbow/Push Coalition.