The war on public education

Public education in one form or another has been alive and well in this country for nearly 370 years. In fact, in 1647, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decreed that every town of 50 or more families should have an elementary school, and that a town of 100 should have a Latin school, in order to insure that Puritan children could learn to read the Bible. This was followed some time later in 1796 when President George Washington offered a few parting words in he farewell address regarding the future of our country. Included in those remarks was his admonition to “Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.”

Thomas Jefferson, first elected president in 1801, strongly expressed his views on the importance of an education in general and as an imperative for the electorate in a Democratic society: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”  In 1776, as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, he lobbied for free public education in Virginia and devised a means for funding it. As president he continued to promote free public education stating that “…no other sure foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom and happiness” and that failing to provide public education would “leave the people in ignorance.”

In 1817 a petition was presented to the Boston Town Meeting calling for the establishment of free primary schools. This was followed by Massachusetts’ passing a law making all grades of public school open to all children without charge. The history of public education in the United States rapidly expands during the industrial age due to the demand for an educated workforce. Perhaps the most eloquent statement regarding public education in the 19th century was delivered in 1849 at the first Continental Convention of California by Robert Semple, the delegate from Solono County:

“I think that here above all places in the Union, we should have, and we possess the resources to have, a well regulated system of education. Education… is the        foundation of our republican institutions; the school system suites the genius and the spirit of our form of government. If people are to govern themselves, they should be qualified to do it. They must be education; they must educate their children; they must provide means for the diffusion of knowledge and the progress of enlightened principles.”

The 20th century saw public education expand to every state in the union, with kindergartens in most public schools by 1910. This was followed by the Smith-Hughes Act providing federal funding for vocational education. From 1930-1950 the NAACP brought suits throughout the southern states calling for equal pay for black teachers. In 1954 the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka agreeing in a unanimous decision that segregated schools were “inherently unequal and must be abolished.”

Despite such advancements in public education, troubling trends have surfaced. According to The Center on Budget and Policy, “Thirty-five states are providing less funding per student in 2013-14 than they did before the recession of 2008. Of the 35 states it is estimated that 14 are have cut funding by more then 10 percent At the same time federal spending for K-12 education has been reduced.”

Yet federal, state and local leaders continue to demand higher test scores?

In March of this year the Kansas state Supreme Court stated that current levels of funding for education were unconstitutional. The state assembly was called in to decrease K-12 education funding by $129 million in addition to the $3 billion budgeted cuts for 2014-15. The deep cuts were the result of Republican Governor Sam Brownback’s desire to reduce state spending in order to meet his goal to make Kansas the state with the smallest government and lowest taxes. Such priority shifts are alarming. Kansas is not alone in this quest to be a part of the small budget small government renaissance that is moving across the country. Other states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, and Washington.

Since the 2008 recession, 30 states, including California, have enacted taxes to cover shortages caused by a shrinking workforce and a decrease in federal spending. California decreased spending by nearly $15 billion and increased state income taxes by 0.25 percent in each of its tax brackets. Also included was a decrease in tax deductions for dependents. The result is expected to bring in additional revenues of $5 billion. However those additional revenues still leave a $10 billion dollar gap due to the $15 billion reduction in spending — a portion of which was taken from education spending.

Currently the largest portion of the federal budget is for the defense spending. When considering what we need most for our future, we must question the worth of military spending when the domestic priority for improving education is reduced.

California is the most populated state in the US. On top of that we have the largest Congressional delegation in Washington DC with four member of the House on the Education and Workforce Committee. California has a public school enrollment is 6.2 million – but ranks number 43 out of 50 in per-pupil spending and 41st in student achievement.

Now comes the hard part. An Arizona State University report states that the United States ranks #36 in the world when it comes to math, reading and science among 15-year-olds.

No matter how you look at it Californians are losing the current battle for public education and unless we change our ways very soon, we will lose the war. To win, we must lobby our Congressional delegation to use their political wealth to bring back to the state those dollars we need to put the California public school system back in the top 10 nationally, where it should be.