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For the past several years, American students have suffered through one of the most poorly managed systems in our nation—our public schools. Far too many students are not provided the education necessary to grow into healthy, productive members of society, able to engage in the duties and responsibilities required of citizenship. The sad truth is that activism has replaced scholarship, with K-12 schools being used as the battleground to wage an ideological war that is increasingly pitting children against their parents.
In the Free Press, Robert Pondiscio recently reported that a significant number of teachers are creating their own lessons, bringing materials into the classroom that have not been vetted for scholarship, accuracy, rigor, or relevance. There is a total absence of oversight into what our young people are being taught.
Meanwhile, activist teacher unions and nonprofits are fueling the fires of antisemitism and illiberalism. In Oregon, the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) developed a "Know Your Rights: Teaching and Organizing for Palestine Within Portland Public Schools" for educators. Accompanying the guide are anti-Israel lessons that teach students to dismantle the very foundations of our democratic republic. The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) Anti-Racism Task Force recently held a webinar accusing Israelis and Jews of "anti-Palestinian" racism; not only was the webinar full of historical inaccuracies, but the district also failed to make a recording available to the inquiring public. In Fort Lee High School District, two history teachers created lessons that not only erased the history and experiences of the Jewish people, but the material used justified the destruction of Israel and falsely labeled the Hamas terrorist group as a "political party" and "resistance movement."
And this is not only an issue that concerns Jewish people. Instead of being taught how to read, American children are being encouraged to stand in solidarity with activist movements. Activists are using classrooms to spread their ideology, much of it bigoted, rather than teach children the foundations of democracy.
As a result, there have been understandable calls to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, with many viewing it as an unnecessary bureaucracy that impedes academic achievement. But this is not the way we reclaim the right our children have to a quality education. The status quo is indeed unsustainable, and will only ensure the continuing decline in academic achievement, and yet, eliminating the DOE will see students at the mercy of their local and state education leaders, many of whom fully embrace programs that are actively fueling our educational decline.
What our children deserve is a Department of Education that serves students by actually being committed to its mission of promoting "student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Currently, the DOE is falling far short of its stated goal.
Fortunately, there is a solution to a system so conditioned for ideological capture, and we don't need to look far for examples on how to offer our children a brighter future. France developed its current national curriculum in 2006, which is known as Common Foundation of Knowledge, Skills, and Culture, after growing concerns over students completing school without basic proficiencies. French leaders have a long history of instituting education policies based on merit in order to equalize opportunities for all children. It doesn't come as a surprise that education is being used as a tool to provide basic competencies for all, considering France's long history of leveling the playing field between the aristocracy and common folk.
In addition to providing access to all, a national curriculum, while not covering all subject matters, can achieve two essential goals of K-12 public education. First, it provides a baseline that all students and educators should have access to. With all of the debate over education funding, school choice, and the role of teacher versus parent in raising the next generation, the U.S. DOE developing a national curriculum could reach across socioeconomic, racial, and geographic boundaries to allow all students access to high quality learning materials.
Second, because most individuals attend K-12 schools, public education has the ability to form a common civic identity rooted in the values of our nation. If the anti-democratic demonstrations from the past few months are any indication of the future of our country, it's clear that civic values are desperately needed.
Yet dismantling the U.S. Department of Education will condemn American children to even more mediocre learning that focuses on identity rather than scholarship. Those who can afford it will provide better schooling for their children, while students who come from working-class backgrounds will be robbed of a future.
Kids in rural, working-class districts in California's central valley deserve a quality education just as much as those in a suburban Utah school district. They should not be sacrificed to the altar of neo-Marxist teacher unions or state or local-level education leaders.
Activists who are using our K-12 education system to radicalize the next generation want less oversight in the classroom so that they can push their agenda unimpeded. This is why they fight so hard to keep parents ignorant of the goings-on in schools.
If we dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, we leave more children vulnerable to the influence of activist teachers, unions, and policy makers.
We are experiencing civic illiteracy. In order for our democratic republic to survive, we must find a solution. We need reform and oversight. Dismantling the DOE will only make things worse.
Dr. Brandy Shufutinsky is Director of Education and Community Engagement with the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
