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@johannneem writes "We might be entering the last days of public ed in America. The US...is poised to become the first rich nation to abandon that commitment." Key word is "might." I wouldn't bet on it. In fact, I would bet against it for three reasons... https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/07/31/covid-19-and-public-schooling-threat-public-education-column/5521151002/
1) as has long been the case, private sector lacks capacity to serve all children. For that matter, it lacks capacity to serve all wealthy kids. Wealthy families are looking for refuge in private sector, but many private schools have already absorbed all the new kids they can.
2) they are going, in part, because they feel it is a necessity (even if I might question that point). Regardless, when the necessity--perceived or otherwise passes--they'll be back (though I pause with the thought of King George's songs in Hamilton).
3) every piece of polling data you can find prior to COVID shows overwhelming bipartisan support among voters for our public schools. Tens of thousands in the streets marching on state capitals last year is an even stronger testament to that fact.
4) This is not the first time we have faced education crisis. @johannneem details them in his wonderful book and I offer even more in my forthcoming book. But a major thesis of my book is that while education has bent during crisis, it has never broken. https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/derek-w-black/schoolhouse-burning/9781541788442/
Yet, Neem is absolutely correct to warn us. I do the same, saying that just bc public ed has persisted in the past does not inevitably mean it will be as strong or stronger next year or the next. & as we both emphasize, there are political movements hellbent on bringing it down.
Yet, I would say the virulence of racism that tried to end public ed in the late 1800s & then again in the 1960s was worse than what we face today. If we are going to continue American democracy, I believe we will/must continue to have public education. They are tied at the hip.
