Mr Rather and Team Steady, I, too, am a proud graduate of public schools, who received a whale of an education from a suburban Indianapolis public school system. As a 70 year old woman, I remember how surprised I was my freshman year at the University of Illinois, which is highly ranked in many areas of study including, but not limited to, mathematics, engineering, computer sciences, accounting, pre-med, and is rated highly by US News & World Report annually. My first two math classes at the Univ of Illinois covered material I had learned in JUNIOR YEAR of high school. This whole idea of charter schools and funneling state and federal funds to those private schools is a ripoff for two main reasons. The first reason, as you mentioned, is it takes money away from urban schools and rural schools, which are underfunded due to the erosion of the tax base and school funding formulas. The second reason, which is far more important imho, is our country and it's government were founded on the BEDROCKS OF SEPAPATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. We are free to worship how we see fit, or, not at all if that aligns with our belief system. Christian Nationalism must NOT be confused as the practice of Christianity. Indeed, former President Jimmy Carter pointed out just last year that Christianity is a practice and NOT a political doctrine in this country, as the billionaires such as Leonard Leo would have us believe. We must meet this headlong, or the evils of slavery and the massacre of indigenous Native Americans will be covered up and evolution will not be taught in schools. My goodness, we are backtracking 80 to 100 years! Only old and middle aged white men want this, and only the ones who are billionaires.
Thank you, Dan. As a retired science teacher in public education, I have given this subject a lot of thought. There is no mention of education in the Constitution. Not surprising since in the late 18th, early 19th centuries education in general was non existent except for the wealthiest members of society in Europe or America. Oh there were some Colonies (States) in the northeast that educated their children (Massachusetts being among them) There were even Universities Harvard, William and Mary, University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Princeton and Columbia among them. But with the exception of Massachusetts and a few other New England States, education at any level was for the WHITE MALE SONS OF THE WEALTHY.
With the rapidly increasing industrialization of the Northeastern States the need of a workforce who could read, write and do elemental arithmetic became essential. Per Amendment 10: Anything not mentioned in the Constitution, or prohibited by it, is left to the States or the people. The Northeastern States took up the cudgel and began educating their population, at first only boys but later included girls.
Since the 1850's, the ruling class (exclusively male, predominantly white) realized a well educated populace would be much more difficult to control. So in the southern and mid-western States only the basic 3 r's were taught (reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic) were taught.
Major changes occurred following WW2, with the introduction of the GI Bill. Suddenly higher education opened up for (gulp) ordinary people and (GULP) females and even people who had darker toned skin.
Panic set in among the ruling class, so by the 1980's, Ronald Reagan came riding his horse to the rescue and slowlly, but surely complete education for the masses began to reverse.
My personal answer is to amend the Constitution to establish Individualized Education for every child in America, educating each child to the best of that child's ability from age 3 to age 18. The platform for this already exists and some of the programming - but not early enough.
As it stands now every child in America is at the mercy of the State in which that child is born and/or raised. Along with the wealth of that child's parents.
The benefits would be the most educated 18 year olds in history, a well trained and educated work force skilled in the essentials so businesses would only have to train in specifics of the job, nolt work ethics and comportment. If anyone is interested I have a 21 page proposal you can contact me through Substack or Fay's Rants.
I attended public schools in communities that weren’t particularly wealthy with a strong tax base, and feel that my education there was excellent. It seems so different now. Our public schools are being starved, and that is so wrong!
This is so sad. We in Floriduh are way ahead of you -- and it is not a pretty sight. Harvey Kravetz is right -- I think this may be one element contributing to the election of the current administration. This weird "values??"-driven (ideology-driven, more like) thing that is happening to our schools is incomprehensible. Our FL public school teachers are on the ropes, but we must not give up supporting them. What to do? What shall become of our children?
I am a product of public education--elementary school through university. It was my only option, barely able to pay the application fee, and I am grateful for it every single day. Public education isn't a handout; it's a chance at equality and the passing of this bill further erodes that.
So many things happening make my heart hurt, but it's the destruction of public education that brings tears to my eyes.
Thank you for your reporting, Team Steady. You are a continuation of my public education.
All of this is truly heartbreaking in my honest opinion! I don't like the idea of the "RICH" taking over our education systems only to teach us more of what "THEY" believe. It's so bad it makes me want to puke!
Quality public education is the foundation of our democracy. All funding cuts to Public Education are a threat to our democratic way of life. Our Democracy depends on literacy, critical thinking, and moral values that are well thought through.
As a teacher I’ve been saying for years that they are dumbing down our population. When you constantly have to test kids to see what they “know” it takes away so much. Creative thinking, understanding complex ideas such as propaganda. All that’s gone by the wayside.
Proud product of a public school education, here, as well. These school vouchers schemes and so-called “charter schools” have always and only ever been a means of sidestepping established channels for funding public education and redirecting public funds to private schools. Anything associated with Milton Friedman ought properly be eyed with healthy skepticism if not outright suspicion. He was, in every sense, a pawn of the establishment for a very long time, and something of an apologist for some of the most dubious policies of this nation’s leadership elites.
Trump stated flatly on the campaign trail that he loves an uneducated electorate. The cultists caaught up in his thrall share that diabolical mindset. I’ve noticed that the folks on extreme right are duplicitous in the extreme. Every charge they level at their opponents can be viewed as as an admission of their having contemplated and committed the very thing they decry in their competition.
Folks, a really ugly mess is shaping up for future generations. This sort off approach to education is not good for these kids or our country.
My daughter is a history teacher in a predominantly black high school where many of her students live in poverty. She is in limbo right now because her school district is federally funded but she’s paid by the state of Texas. So every day she wonders if that will be her last there. Since it’s a poor district that means the tax base is low & so is teacher pay. Private school vouchers are designed to help pay for all the little rich kids in Texas education. Rural schools will not benefit from this at all. There is one private school in my county & it only goes to the eighth grade. It’s also a church school that mostly Drs & lawyers kids attend & other wealthy kids. They don’t want the little black & brown kids there because that’s what they’re paying for so they won’t have to. Teachers in Texas are not going to benefit from this because it’s nothing more than a plan to destroy the public school system in Texas.
My heart goes out to your daughter. Bless her for choosing to teach the students she does. We need to educate all our citizens so they can fight this autocratic government.
Dan I also went to public school for part of my education. My early years were spent in a private catholic school. When I married and had kids we were far from rich. We scrimped and saved. No out to eat ,old cars,no entertainment .We were able to send our kids to a local catholic school. Which we volunteered at etc. No money was taken away from the children that went to public schools. My kids played sports with many of their public school friends in the town rec system. I have also given to my nieces and nephews school fund raisers. If any state want school vouchers figure out the price per student in public school and give the family that money. Or raise the money another way. The Rich should be ashamed taking from the poor.
Mr Rather and Team Steady, I, too, am a proud graduate of public schools, who received a whale of an education from a suburban Indianapolis public school system. As a 70 year old woman, I remember how surprised I was my freshman year at the University of Illinois, which is highly ranked in many areas of study including, but not limited to, mathematics, engineering, computer sciences, accounting, pre-med, and is rated highly by US News & World Report annually. My first two math classes at the Univ of Illinois covered material I had learned in JUNIOR YEAR of high school. This whole idea of charter schools and funneling state and federal funds to those private schools is a ripoff for two main reasons. The first reason, as you mentioned, is it takes money away from urban schools and rural schools, which are underfunded due to the erosion of the tax base and school funding formulas. The second reason, which is far more important imho, is our country and it's government were founded on the BEDROCKS OF SEPAPATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. We are free to worship how we see fit, or, not at all if that aligns with our belief system. Christian Nationalism must NOT be confused as the practice of Christianity. Indeed, former President Jimmy Carter pointed out just last year that Christianity is a practice and NOT a political doctrine in this country, as the billionaires such as Leonard Leo would have us believe. We must meet this headlong, or the evils of slavery and the massacre of indigenous Native Americans will be covered up and evolution will not be taught in schools. My goodness, we are backtracking 80 to 100 years! Only old and middle aged white men want this, and only the ones who are billionaires.
*SEPARATION, not SEPAPATION
Terrible bill but not a surprise.
Thank you, Dan. As a retired science teacher in public education, I have given this subject a lot of thought. There is no mention of education in the Constitution. Not surprising since in the late 18th, early 19th centuries education in general was non existent except for the wealthiest members of society in Europe or America. Oh there were some Colonies (States) in the northeast that educated their children (Massachusetts being among them) There were even Universities Harvard, William and Mary, University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Princeton and Columbia among them. But with the exception of Massachusetts and a few other New England States, education at any level was for the WHITE MALE SONS OF THE WEALTHY.
With the rapidly increasing industrialization of the Northeastern States the need of a workforce who could read, write and do elemental arithmetic became essential. Per Amendment 10: Anything not mentioned in the Constitution, or prohibited by it, is left to the States or the people. The Northeastern States took up the cudgel and began educating their population, at first only boys but later included girls.
Since the 1850's, the ruling class (exclusively male, predominantly white) realized a well educated populace would be much more difficult to control. So in the southern and mid-western States only the basic 3 r's were taught (reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic) were taught.
Major changes occurred following WW2, with the introduction of the GI Bill. Suddenly higher education opened up for (gulp) ordinary people and (GULP) females and even people who had darker toned skin.
Panic set in among the ruling class, so by the 1980's, Ronald Reagan came riding his horse to the rescue and slowlly, but surely complete education for the masses began to reverse.
My personal answer is to amend the Constitution to establish Individualized Education for every child in America, educating each child to the best of that child's ability from age 3 to age 18. The platform for this already exists and some of the programming - but not early enough.
As it stands now every child in America is at the mercy of the State in which that child is born and/or raised. Along with the wealth of that child's parents.
The benefits would be the most educated 18 year olds in history, a well trained and educated work force skilled in the essentials so businesses would only have to train in specifics of the job, nolt work ethics and comportment. If anyone is interested I have a 21 page proposal you can contact me through Substack or Fay's Rants.
Preeminent summation:
https://substack.com/@glennkirschner/note/c-110681783?r=1kncci&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
I attended public schools in communities that weren’t particularly wealthy with a strong tax base, and feel that my education there was excellent. It seems so different now. Our public schools are being starved, and that is so wrong!
This is so sad. We in Floriduh are way ahead of you -- and it is not a pretty sight. Harvey Kravetz is right -- I think this may be one element contributing to the election of the current administration. This weird "values??"-driven (ideology-driven, more like) thing that is happening to our schools is incomprehensible. Our FL public school teachers are on the ropes, but we must not give up supporting them. What to do? What shall become of our children?
I am a product of public education--elementary school through university. It was my only option, barely able to pay the application fee, and I am grateful for it every single day. Public education isn't a handout; it's a chance at equality and the passing of this bill further erodes that.
So many things happening make my heart hurt, but it's the destruction of public education that brings tears to my eyes.
Thank you for your reporting, Team Steady. You are a continuation of my public education.
Public schools have been the great equalizer in America. It is a sad day that we are removing this from our country.
All of this is truly heartbreaking in my honest opinion! I don't like the idea of the "RICH" taking over our education systems only to teach us more of what "THEY" believe. It's so bad it makes me want to puke!
Quality public education is the foundation of our democracy. All funding cuts to Public Education are a threat to our democratic way of life. Our Democracy depends on literacy, critical thinking, and moral values that are well thought through.
The education of Americans has failed. how else can you explain trump?
As a teacher I’ve been saying for years that they are dumbing down our population. When you constantly have to test kids to see what they “know” it takes away so much. Creative thinking, understanding complex ideas such as propaganda. All that’s gone by the wayside.
Proud product of a public school education, here, as well. These school vouchers schemes and so-called “charter schools” have always and only ever been a means of sidestepping established channels for funding public education and redirecting public funds to private schools. Anything associated with Milton Friedman ought properly be eyed with healthy skepticism if not outright suspicion. He was, in every sense, a pawn of the establishment for a very long time, and something of an apologist for some of the most dubious policies of this nation’s leadership elites.
Trump stated flatly on the campaign trail that he loves an uneducated electorate. The cultists caaught up in his thrall share that diabolical mindset. I’ve noticed that the folks on extreme right are duplicitous in the extreme. Every charge they level at their opponents can be viewed as as an admission of their having contemplated and committed the very thing they decry in their competition.
Folks, a really ugly mess is shaping up for future generations. This sort off approach to education is not good for these kids or our country.
My daughter is a history teacher in a predominantly black high school where many of her students live in poverty. She is in limbo right now because her school district is federally funded but she’s paid by the state of Texas. So every day she wonders if that will be her last there. Since it’s a poor district that means the tax base is low & so is teacher pay. Private school vouchers are designed to help pay for all the little rich kids in Texas education. Rural schools will not benefit from this at all. There is one private school in my county & it only goes to the eighth grade. It’s also a church school that mostly Drs & lawyers kids attend & other wealthy kids. They don’t want the little black & brown kids there because that’s what they’re paying for so they won’t have to. Teachers in Texas are not going to benefit from this because it’s nothing more than a plan to destroy the public school system in Texas.
My heart goes out to your daughter. Bless her for choosing to teach the students she does. We need to educate all our citizens so they can fight this autocratic government.
Dan, how does America begin to enforce court orders?
Write about that.
This is the single most important issue America ignores.
It will be the end of America if this continues.
It will take courageous, armed men and women to do it.
Are there any left?
Dan I also went to public school for part of my education. My early years were spent in a private catholic school. When I married and had kids we were far from rich. We scrimped and saved. No out to eat ,old cars,no entertainment .We were able to send our kids to a local catholic school. Which we volunteered at etc. No money was taken away from the children that went to public schools. My kids played sports with many of their public school friends in the town rec system. I have also given to my nieces and nephews school fund raisers. If any state want school vouchers figure out the price per student in public school and give the family that money. Or raise the money another way. The Rich should be ashamed taking from the poor.