An issue of vital importance to tens of millions of parents, students, and teachers has been inexplicably downplayed this election season. Not a single word was said about public education in either the presidential or vice presidential debates. Pollsters and experts rarely mention this issue as a top issue. But next week, when education is on the ballot, the stakes are for survival. Will we vote to strengthen the public schools that 90 percent of America’s children and families depend on, or will we weaken and ultimately destroy the last remaining true public institutions? Will we vote to do so?
Public schools need to help prepare young people for life, college, careers, and citizenship. But some extremist politicians are engaging our classrooms in a toxic culture war to soften the ground for systematic defunding, privatization, and voucherization. Now is the time to take this threat seriously.
I’m at school every chance I get. You’ll see the joy that comes from children immersing themselves in a good book, taking part in hands-on projects, and working together as a team to share their knowledge. I have seen how public schools can be transformed to embed them in communities and align them with economic and career opportunities. With so many young people still struggling with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their learning, development and mental health, we are committed to making schools more engaging and meaningful and addressing student well-being. We need to redouble our efforts to promote critical thinking and problem-solving. -Solving skills. I know that with the right support, all public schools can be places where parents want to send their children, educators want to work, and students want to thrive.
Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have long disdained American educators and public schools, and the Republican platform will eviscerate public education as we know it. Despite evidence that school voucher programs siphon funding from public schools, burn billions of dollars in holes in state budgets, and cause significant declines in student achievement, the program has called for a significant expansion. are. Vouchers will primarily go to parents whose children are already attending private schools, and will be distributed with taxpayer funding to wealthy people. Since Arizona launched its statewide voucher program in 2022, the price promised to taxpayers has increased fivefold. In Wisconsin, 41% of voucher schools failed. In Louisiana and Ohio, the academic hit for students in voucher schools has been nearly double the losses caused by the pandemic.
These schools can choose which students they accept. We are free to discriminate against students based on disability, learning style, or identity. And they lack the basic student and family services that public schools should provide. For many rural families without private options nearby, the options will ultimately be homeschooling or Zoom schooling run by for-profit companies.
Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Vice President Governor Tim Walz visit Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Georgia, on August 28, 2024, with members of the marching band. Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Vice President On August 28, 2024, Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, traveled across Georgia on a two-day campaign bus tour, visiting Hinesville, Georgia, with members of a marching band. Visited Liberty County High School. See more Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Project 2025 goes even further. They want the government to crack down on local curricula, ban books and censor teachers. It would abolish the federal Department of Education and eliminate support for poor and most needy children. Moving up the ladder of opportunity will harm millions of children and hand victory to international competitors. If America wants to outperform its rivals in education, innovation, and competition, it needs to unleash the potential of its children, not take them away.
Public schools are more than physical structures. These are manifestations of the idea that education is so important for both individuals and society that it should be free and available to everyone. That all young people should have the opportunity to prepare for life, college, career, and citizenship. In a pluralistic society, people with different beliefs and backgrounds must learn how to bridge their differences. And, as the Founders believed, an educated population is essential to protecting democracy from demagogues.
The Biden-Harris administration has made the largest investment in public schools in U.S. history, with $130 billion to reopen and strengthen schools, and it is essential that support continues in the next Congress. Harris and Walz, both longtime high school teachers, support free universal kindergarten. Full funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Increased accountability for charter schools. Strategies to reduce gun violence. And training for good middle-class jobs that don’t require a four-year college degree. Governor Walz made school lunches free in Minnesota because he knows that ending hunger is far more laudable than banning books.
My union, AFT, has been fighting for real solutions to fight back against vouchers, expand community schools and experiential learning, and secure investment in public education. Rather than defunding and weakening public schools, we will promote new paths to college and careers, including high-demand jobs in health care, aviation, and advanced manufacturing. I am. Our partnership with Micron Technology will help thousands of high school students develop the skills they need to succeed in the rapidly growing semiconductor industry. A grant from the Department of Commerce will help students in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota develop real, marketable skills and knowledge that will lead directly to fulfilling careers.
On this election day, we must elect leaders who believe that every child’s path to success begins with well-funded and supported public schools. The alternative is an attack on democracy and broader opportunity that will not be easily reversed. At least a few minutes of air time should have been better spent during the debate on the future of American public education, but there is still time to bring it up.
Randi Weingarten is the president of AFT, which represents 1.7 million members in education, health care, and public service, and a member of the Democratic National Committee.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
