Well, probably not all. But when did public school education become, on net, a force for evil? At some time after public sector unions were legalized in, as I recall, the 1960s. One of the worst mistakes in the history of our democracy. Now, the teachers’ unions have mobilized teachers as left-wing activists, and a great many of those who were not comfortable with that politicization have left the profession.
We can see the result in places like Oakland, one of America’s most benighted cities:
Oakland’s public school teachers went on strike last week not only for increased wages, but also for a variety of other demands, including environmental change and reparations.
This is 100% the doing of the far-left teachers’ union. Parents, understandably, have had it:
Furious parents marched their children across picket lines of striking teachers in Oakland, California, on Friday on the seventh day of a strike in which teachers are demanding reparations for slavery, among other demands.
The subtext, of course, is that the public schools in Oakland, as generally across America, are terrible:
Only about 20% of black students in Oakland met or exceeded state standards in English in 2022, and only about 11% of Oakland’s black students met or exceeded California standards in mathematics in that year.
Most of these kids have no future, largely because the teachers’ unions have transformed the public schools into left-wing activist centers rather than institutions dedicated to learning. The effects will be with us for generations to come, as many millions of Americans will be, in effect, unemployable in non-criminal enterprises. Which evidently is what liberals want.
If there is a solution, it lies in home schooling, charter schools, and school choice that includes religious schools. But that is what teachers’ unions and the Democratic Party are determined to block.