5 Ways the Radical Right-Wing is Destroying Public Education
It’s Getting Worse and More Authoritarian
Issue #98 Education August 3, 2022 (about 4 minutes reading time)
The right-wing loves to call us leftists “radical” and “socialist,” but we are the ones who support the policies that the majority of Americans also support. However, by continuously attempting to force their authoritarian views and religious theocratic policies on the rest of us, the right-wing are the ones who are radical.
Wide-ranging and universal public education has been a part of American society since about 1840. Of course, public education in many areas of the country has been segregated and unequal for decades, and there have always been private, elite, expensive, and religious schools. But overall, the goal of public education was to make our society at least literate. There are various levels of literacy, but the most basic literacy rate in America is 96%, and 33% have Level 2 literacy, meaning they can read and write at a basic level.
Since the advent of public education, the “the three R’s,” reading, ‘riting, and ‘rthmetic, have been pretty much standard curriculum offerings and except for scattered incidences of book banning, did not elicit much controversy.
But more subjective courses, especially American History, haven’t fared as well. American History has always been Eurocentric, stressing the role of Greece while downplaying or ignoring the contributions of other historical civilizations and political systems. When I was in elementary school, we learned all about Athens and Sparta, but almost nothing about African, Asian, or Middle Eastern civilizations, and the only Black person we learned about was Dr. George Washington Carver. Ancient Egyptians were portrayed as white, instead of as the brown- and black-skinned people they were.
In the past few years, especially as the radical right-wing has attempted to solidify minority rule, the attacks on public education and its curricula have intensified. People like former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVoss under the Trump administration have been working on replacing public schools with charter schools for years.
Teachers are leaving the profession in unprecedented numbers all over the country, mostly due to the level of disrespect and animus shown them. In Florida, the government feels the solution to the teacher shortage is to hire veterans or the spouses of veterans who only have to “shadow” a current teacher for twelve hours to be considered qualified to teach in a classroom. No degree or even education courses are required. One of those potential teachers was shocked to find out that she would have to grade papers!
Here are the top five issues that the radical Republicans are promoting that could eventually destroy the public education system in the United States:
Parental Control Republicans contend that initiatives such as mandatory masking in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and censorship and book banning will give parents “more control” over what their children learn in school. What the radical Republicans call parental control actually does is inject a narrow ideology into school curricula and promote violence against school board members and school staff members who do not agree with their minority viewpoints.
American History/CRT Republicans have successfully and falsely claimed that “Critical Race Theory (CRT)” is being taught in K-12 grades, which, in their view, makes white children feel bad and guilty about the racist and murderous actions of many of their ancestors. Of course, CRT isn’t even taught at the undergraduate university level, much less in the K-12 grades. Republicans are using the acronym CRT as a stand-in for promoting the teaching of American History that centers on white supremacy, “America First,” and the elevation and veneration of the Confederacy and the traitorous Confederate generals and politicians.
Private vs. Public Schools The Republicans are promoting private schools over public schools for many reasons, including that they believe the private sector in any area is superior to the public sector, realizing that private schools are against teacher unions that are a key voting base for Democrats, private, religious-based (only Christianity) schools should be able to be funded by public tax dollars, and that parents should have a tax-funded “choice” to use vouchers that would also siphon public funds to private education. A few years ago, when Louisiana decided that public tax funds could be used for religious schools, an Islamic school applied for those funds. The school was told, “Oh, we didn’t mean you!” and denied that non-Christian school’s application for public funds for religious schools.
”Woke” Education Another term that the Republicans have successfully turned into a negative policy is “woke.” Republicans call anything that goes against their narrow authoritarian view “woke politics,” including teaching children to be empathetic towards others, LGBTQA rights, teaching children critical thinking skills, and teaching children about race and racism. Florida Republican governor Ron DeSantis has even injected “wokeness” into the teaching of math, saying that asking children how they may feel about a particular outcome and encouraging children to work together to reach an answer or come to a conclusion is the wrong educational approach.
Secular vs. Religious Public Education With the help of the recent Carson v Makin ruling by the right-majority justices on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), the radical Republican efforts to completely dissolve public secular education in the United States are becoming more successful. The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution clearly states that no religion should be elevated over another, and people do have the right to practice their own religion as they please, but on the other hand, people cannot force others to practice religion the way they decide. Republicans are also pushing for schools to have the ability to interject praying in schools and individual classrooms, as long as the prayers are by Christian teachers, staff, and other officials.
As a retired educator of all grades from Pre-K through university levels, these attacks on our public education systems are quite frightening to me. I previously wrote about my experiences as a classroom teacher some 50 years ago. If I were teaching today, I probably would be attacked, if not outright arrested and/or fired. Teachers should be respected and paid as the professionals they are, and children should be allowed to learn about all of American history and society.
How do you feel about the future of public education in America? Let us know in the comments.
Help us to grow!
We have an iOS app!
WE are here because of YOUR support!
“We Are Speaking” is a reader-supported publication. We publish 7 days a week, and a paid subscription costs just 35¢ a day or less! To receive new posts and podcast episodes and to support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber or upgrading your free subscription to the paid level. Thank you!