Johann Neem and Tony Tian-Ren Lin explain just how terrible the GOP Tax Law is. It harms our democracy by transferring public funds from public schools to private schools, without the consent of the governed.
“Most attention on the tax legislation enacted last month has focused on its impact on Americans’ wallets. But it was also a victory for school choice and a massive blow to public education.
“It initially included measures to benefit home-schooling families and the final version benefited those who use private schools while eroding the state and local sources that fund public schools. The financial strain to the public schools caused by the loss of that revenue is well documented. The long-term harm to the nation is less evident, but no less profound.
“Public schools were established to knit together the civic fabric of our democracy. They never fully succeeded in that task, but as our discourse becomes increasingly poisoned and our political divisions seem to grow deeper with each passing year, we need them to do so more than ever. Unfortunately, these same developments make Americans more resistant to restoring and completing this original vision for our schools.
”Legislation like the tax bill, which threatens the funding base for public schools and encourages private schooling, promises to exacerbate these problems and poses a real danger to American democracy.
“America’s founders understood that the American experiment would fail if citizens did not hold a common vision for the greater good. The need for a shared civic culture became urgent by the 1830s as ethnic and ideological conflicts produced violence in America’s streets. One of the most effective antidotes to this disunity was tax-supported “common” public schools. America’s public schools were founded to educate citizens and bring diverse Americans together to instill a common vision for the nation.”
Johann Neem and his family came to the U.S. from India when he was a child. He credits the public schools for giving him the opportunity to rise and succeed in American society.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
We need advocates for public schools in DC because 90% of families use public schools.
Charters have advocates. Vouchers have advocates. Somehow 90% of families ended up without a voice. It has to be remedied or our schools will continue to get hurt.
We can pay some private sector advocates or elect some, but it has to happen, and quickly, because when they succeed in eradicating teachers unions we’re left with no one.
Chiara,
Public Schools and Public School Teachers don’t have BRIBE money… so no advocates for public schools.
90% of American school children attend publicly-operated schools, because they have no choice. Their parents cannot afford to pay both school taxes and non-public school costs.
Another thing: 90% of the funding for publicly-operated K-12 education comes from the states/municipalities.
Why do public school supporters need an advocate in WashDC? Would it not be more effective (and cost-effective) to lobby at the state/municipality level? That is where the money is, that is where the political support is.
Another reason to abolish the (federal) Dept of Ed.
Then how do you explain the percentages of students even in urban areas where there are charter schools who choose to stay in public schools? How do you explain the numbers of angry parents who show up and speak out to oppose new charters and/or vouchers? How do you explain that charters and vouchers are almost always defeated at the ballot box, unless the rephormers engage in deceptive campaigns (like “Parent Trigger”) and/or dump tons of money into the campaign? If American parents are demanding school choice, why are they so opposed to it?
In answer to the question “How do you explain the numbers of angry parents who show up and speak out to oppose new charters and/or vouchers?” the answer, apparently, is, and has been: “You simply pretend it never happened. You don’t report on it. You don’t acknowledge it. You never speak of it…”
There are many reasons why parents in urban areas, choose to remain in publicly-operated schools, when offered alternatives. The most prevalent reason, would be that the parents/children are satisfied with the publicly-operated schools. The ability to choose confers the ability to remain in the school of your choice, even if it is publicly-operated.
I live in the WashDC metro area. WashDC parents may choose to enroll their children in charter schools, there is a lottery. see
http://www.dcpcsb.org/how-do-i-enroll-public-charter-school-what-my-school-dc
The procedure requires parents to jump through some hoops. There are more parents who wish to enroll their children in the charter schools, so there is a lottery. This tells me , that many (not all) parents are dissatisfied with the public schools in our nation’s capital.
As to why some “angry” parents show up/speak out against school choice, that is their right. Some parents (incorrectly) believe in perpetuating the government/public school monopoly, because they either believe incorrect information, or they are opposed to any change. Many people were opposed to the break up of AT&T, for various reasons.
I am (generally) opposed to referenda. Referenda are “mob rule” , where 51% of the people can urinate in the oatmeal of the other 49%. There is no federal provision for referenda, because the framers (correctly) feared mob rule. Ours is a representative republic, with a government that is able to “cool” the hot passions of the mob.
Some(not all) people vote against school choice for various reasons. Again, the opponents believe incorrect propaganda. or they are opposed to any change, or they have some sentimental attachment to “neighborhood schools” or whatever. There is a referendum coming up in Arizona, Prop.305, where the citizens will have the ability to expand a pre-existing ESA program. A great deal of money both pro and con, will pour into the Grand Canyon State on this one.
This is a good question Q If American parents are demanding school choice, why are they so opposed to it? END Q
Let me answer it this way. Some (not all) parents are desirous of having more control over the direction of their children’s education. Some (not all) parents are entirely satisfied with the existing one-size-fits-all educational programs in their state of residence. Governments have to balance the desires of these differing groups of constituents.
Many (not all) wealthy families choose to opt-out of the public system, and spend lavishly on their children’s education. see this article:
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/04/the-privilege-of-school-choice/524103/
When neighborhood schools are white, most parents are satisfied with the neighborhood school. When the neighborhood school is minority, then most white parents want school choice. See
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/12/progressives-are-undermining-public-schools/548084/
Common Welfare is mentioned in the Pre-Amble which is not binding. It is mentioned only one other place and that is:
Article I Section 8 (Article I discusses the Legislature)
1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
Section 8 concludes by listing what the common welfare is. Education is NOT among them. Declare War and coin money are among them (neither one of which is being followed now). Education is NOT mentioned in the US Constitution at all.
Our founding fathers correctly thought that only educated people should vote (only white male land owners) but they did not provide for public education at all. They knew that royalty were educated by private tutors to rule so they believed that only educated men should rule.
Amendment 10
Undelegated Powers Kept by the States and the People
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Couple this with the Article I Section 8 (and rest of the Constitution as well) and we get that we should have no US government interference with Education.
Again, the Federal government is into many things it is not supposed be into.
I do agree that we need to have a common culture but schools today do not provide this. They say that everything is Okay. We are no longer a melting pot but a salad bowl. Even the melting pot was somewhat limited. We still had and have neighborhoods based on racial and ethnic makeup. We have Little Chinas, Irish neighborhoods, black neighborhoods, etc. At least they used to require people to learn English.
There is a specific statement that is constantly used and that is “democracy”. The correct statement is, “Republic”. Democracy, by its very definition, is a usable term that is used by Nation-states. The United States is a nation comprised of multiple states. Therefore, we do not have a democracy.
The complaint about this tax law, as I understand it, is an affront to public education as we know it. The real point is, is this. Education in the beginning, was not a federal government concern. Each State has and had the responsibility to ensure people were educated. The education system, more so, under Obama, became the routines of the carrot and the stick. The DoE controlled the money and if education did not happen the way Duncan wanted, he would strangle the State by sending no dollars their way.
Home-schooling and private schooling have been around for a long time. Taxes did not divert. Taxes that were paid, albeit, to the State, or to the school district by way of levies and bonds, did not change. I fail to see this complaint as valid. Our political divisions have gotten deeper and it is not just the Republicans fault; blame also falls on Democrats.
The original intent of public schools is to train the next generation to fear GOD and become really smart people. Today’s intent of public schools is to fear Islam and barely get educated. There is no more the original idea of public schools as OUR Founders would have it. Teachers have left education as it would have been accorded to each State and opted to teach and train OUR generations to learn the main precepts of the Communist Manifesto and Karl Marx. John Dewey, agreed with the ideas of Marx.
Schools are, today, are bastions of indoctrination and get by education. There is no value to the teachers who hate the Constitutions of the US and each State by educating children to become really smart people. Teachers listen too much to their unions and their unions tell them what to teach and most of what is said is not related to the ideals of freedom.
Tax supported common schools is true, but what the authors fails to realize is that colleges and universities are public funded. People cry on both sides of the aisle when “consent of the governed” starts floating by. Republicans did when Obama took away the voucher program in WA, DC. Now the Democrats are saying the same. Tit for tat???? The authors need to brush up on what schools are funded by the public.
This is one of the most ridiculous comments on my blog in the last five years.
Public schools do not indoctrinate students.
Unions do not tell teachers what to teach.
Freedom to think and learn and teach is the core of public education.
Yes they do….. You have spent too much time in DC to see that. People from the top, generally have no idea of what is going on at the bottom. Yes, they do indoctrinate. Let us talk about, “No blood for oil”. This trains children to protest Republicans. Yes, indoctrination happens in the schools.
Tell me about John Sweeney. According to him, children have no rights to a proper education, unless they paid union dues. (paraphrased).
Common core is replacing the freedom to think.
Call this, ridiculous as you will. You are not reading the information I am getting and some are generated by school teachers.
Is that why the public voted for a con man and fool, because they were indoctrinated in public schools to accept evangelical values? Your logic escapes me.
Here
https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/The-new-tax-law-poses-a-hi-in-Best_Web_OpEds-American-Dream_American-Schools_Democracy_Democracy-Destroyed-180116-614.html#comment686285
is a crucial article by E. D. Hirsch* which explains why
1-Shared Knowledge Is Essential to Language Comprehension: Specific subject-matter knowledge over a broad range of domains is the key to language comprehension–and, as a result, to a broad ability to learn new things. It is the cornerstone of competence and adaptability in the modern world.
For example : ” Just imagine how cumbersome your newspaper would be if, in reporting on a baseball game, it did not assume you already knew what “pitching,” “being at bat,” and “hit- ting a home run” mean. Instead of a short synopsis of last night’s game, you’d get paragraph after paragraph that (boringly) explained the basics of the game. Of course, if you didn’t know anything about baseball, a short synopsis of the game wouldn’t make any sense (no matter how many comprehension strategies you had mastered).
” The specific knowledge dependence of reading comprehension becomes obvious when we take the time to reflect on what any given bit of text assumes the reader already knows. In language use, there is always a great deal that is left unsaid and must be inferred. is means that communication depends on both sides, writer and reader, sharing a great deal of unspoken knowledge. is large body of tacit knowledge is precisely what our students are not being adequately taught in our schools. ”
Did you know that studies show that for most students, the primary determinant of whether they ended up at the community college or at the university was not innate ability or family background–it was knowledge. Knowledge that could be learned at school.
* E. D. Hirsch, Jr., is a professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and the author of many articles and books, including the bestsellers Cultural Literacy and e Schools We Need. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the founder of the Core Knowledge Foundation. is article is drawn, with permission, from his most recent book, e Making of Americans: Democracy and Our Schools (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009).
Submitted on Tuesday, Jan 16, 2018 at 4:33:49 PM