Ravenous would be the word I would use to describe my consumption of political news and commentary since the 2016 election. I try to listen to as many perspectives as possible. However, I find that every source of political commentary seems to leave off a discussion of the importance of education in society.
Unless we’re talking about the foibles of our current Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, there is little to no conversation about improving our educational system. Rather, we hear about more military spending, including the dubious idea that we need a “Space Force” as a sixth branch of the armed services. Unfortunately, this is not a new. I remember posters in my 1970’s elementary school that asked, “What if the government had to have a fundraiser to buy bombs?”
I am not talking about the current debate about whether or not we have brainwashed high school kids into thinking that a college degree is the only pathway to success (I disagree). Rather, I question why we still put other things, such as military spending, ahead of the right of children to receive a future-ready education, One that includes aesthetically pleasing, healthy, safe and technologically-adaptive environments that can meet all learners’ needs. This means paying teachers wages commensurate with their training.
I wonder why this is? Why do we still rely on fundraisers to fund the education of our most important resource? Why can’t we get beyond this? Why haven’t our leaders identified education as important as a force in space?
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