{"id":24720,"date":"2023-01-11T11:44:58","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T19:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=24720"},"modified":"2023-01-11T11:45:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T19:45:00","slug":"communism-isnt-what-terrifies-the-gop-its-high-quality-and-well-funded-public-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/01\/11\/communism-isnt-what-terrifies-the-gop-its-high-quality-and-well-funded-public-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Communism Isn’t What Terrifies the GOP? It’s High-Quality and Well-Funded Public Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Former<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Former US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos arrives for the 45th Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on December 4, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you imagine a country where everyone was fully educated? People might actually become informed voters and demand freedom and justice for all! The idea absolutely terrifies the right.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

STEVEN SINGER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan 10, 2023 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you heard the latest Republican lie?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are so many it\u2019s hard to keep track<\/a>, but here\u2019s the newest one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public school teachers are turning their students into communists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not kidding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what they\u2019re saying on far right blogs<\/a>, podcasts and TV shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone from Betsy DeVos<\/a> to Ron DeSantis<\/a> and the sober fellows of the Heritage Foundation<\/a> are up in arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All because Mr. Singer<\/a> wore a red sweater vest one day to class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In matters of opinion, isn\u2019t it better to tell students the facts and let them think for themselves about their relative virtues?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not really, but that might have been a better provocation than the reality \u2013 which is all in far right pundits\u2019 heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So for the GOP, it\u2019s all about fear \u2013 what can you scare voters to believe that will shepherd them to support your agenda?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So to start with, Republicans want you to be terrified of public schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They want you to have to pay to get your kids educated \u2013 but public schools give learning away for free to everyone<\/a> \u2013 just for paying taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right-wingers would much rather make it all a business where the more you pay, the better the education your kids get. There\u2019d be poor quality charter schools<\/a> for those who can\u2019t afford the entry fee, but the best of everything would be reserved for the kids of the rich and powerful whose parents would use school vouchers<\/a> to offset some of their tuition at private institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public schools would undo all that \u2013 especially if they were adequately funded<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you imagine a country where everyone<\/em> was fully educated!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People might become informed voters and demand freedom and justice for all<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers might have to create real policies, a platform, solutions \u2013 to actually govern!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So GOP operatives spread hysterical lies about public schools<\/a>. They call them \u201cgovernment schools\u201d as if that meant some imposed bureaucracy of outsiders and not what it actually does \u2013 schools governed by elected members of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lies and innuendo are never ending. Public school educators teach fake history where the civil rights movement was a good thing<\/a>. They refuse to instill the truth of Creationism over fake Evolution<\/a>. Teachers are pedophile groomers <\/a>\u2013 never mind the actual Republican lawmakers charged with pedophilia and rape<\/a>. And on and on and on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which brings us to the latest one \u2013 the new red scare<\/a> that public school teachers are raising the next generation to hate Adam Smith and love Karl Marx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole idea seems to have started with DeVos, the billionaire heiress and former Secretary of Education<\/a> under President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Bluey, vice president of publishing for the Heritage Foundation, asked her a question on The Daily Signal Podcast<\/a> (a Heritage Foundation mouthpiece) about the growing popularity of socialism among young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s true, according to a 2018 Gallup poll<\/a>, Americans aged 18 to 29 are almost as positive about socialism (51%) as they are about capitalism (45%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So on behalf of the right-wing think tank behind the critical race theory brouhaha, transphobic legislation, climate change denial and a host of other regressive causes, Bluey asked DeVos why young people aren\u2019t as firmly championing capitalism as previous generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeVos, of course, blamed teachers. She responded<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI recall visiting a classroom not too long ago where one of the teachers was wearing a shirt that said \u201cFind Your Truth,\u201d suggesting that, of course, truth is a very fungible and mutable thing instead of focusing on the fact that there is objective truth and part of learning is actually pursuing that truth.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is a rather strange answer. It may be the case that there are absolute truths in the world, but economic theories certainly don\u2019t qualify. In matters of opinion, isn\u2019t it better to tell students the facts and let them think for themselves about their relative virtues?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not for DeVos. Indoctrination apparently is just fine so long as you\u2019re indoctrinating kids into the right things.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell them capitalism is great. Tell them socialism is terrible. Screw critical thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Heritage Foundation, at least, liked her answer, using it as a template to fund a plethora of stories about public schools \u2013 not just leaving the matter up to students to decide \u2013 but actually bullying kids into championing communism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Blair, a Daily Signal producer, codified the idea in his article \u201cI\u2019m a Former Teacher. Here\u2019s How Your Children Are Getting Indoctrinated in Leftist Ideology.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the text of article, Blair admits he was only \u201cin education\u201d for 4 years, but it seems he was not a full-time classroom teacher for most of that time. According to his Linked-In account<\/a>, he was a French teacher for 9 months in a school in Portland, Oregon. Before that he was an Extracurricular Aide, an English Language Assistant and Language Immersion Counselor at various schools in the US and France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His evidence of indoctrination reads like \u201cKids Say the Darndest Things \u2013 Republican Edition<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, he says he asked an elementary school girl if she liked Winston Churchill, and she frowned calling Churchill racist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure why that\u2019s so upsetting. Churchill led Great Britain through WWII, but he undeniably WAS <\/em><\/strong>a racist,<\/a> too. Churchill said that he hated people with \u201cslit eyes and pig tails.\u201d<\/a> To him, people from India were \u201cthe beastliest people in the world next to the Germans.\u201d<\/a> He admitted that he \u201cdid not really think that black people were as capable or as efficient as white people.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Blair\u2019s examples of indoctrination come out to complaining that kids learned accurate history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If only the GOP could use history and education to change minds instead of decrying them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida Gov. DeSantis is giving it a try. In 2022, he signed a law requiring schools in the sunshine state to actively teach about the horrors of communism.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right. Whether teachers need to or not, they have to spend at least 45 minutes on it every November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that every year folks in Florida, but particularly our students, will learn about the evils of communism. The dictators that have led communist regimes and the hundreds of millions of individuals who suffered and continue to suffer under the weight of this discredited ideology,\u201d DeSantis said, adding that \u201ca lot of young people don\u2019t really know that much\u201d about the political ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first blush, this may sound like a good idea. More historical knowledge is a good thing, but it\u2019s the context that makes this troubling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida Republicans already have passed a battalion of laws telling educators what they CANNOT <\/em><\/strong>teach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you can\u2019t teach about racial<\/a> issues including the history of slavery if it makes any student \u201cfeel uncomfortable.\u201d Math books are censored from depicting \u201cprohibited topics.\u201d You can\u2019t talk about a wide range of human sexuality including LGBTQ people because of the infamous \u201cDon\u2019t Say Gay\u201d bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you\u2019d better teach about how bad communism is! Or else!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, this is the very definition of a GOVERNMENT SCHOOL<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 the legislature dictating what teachers teach on a given day and not trusting them to do their own jobs.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, why single out communism? Certainly it has lead to horrors and misery, but so has capitalism. Are we to teach about the terrors of rampant greed, sweatshops, wars for oil, runaway inequality<\/a>? After all, students in impoverished neighborhoods going to underfunded schools <\/a>are actual victims of free enterprise, not collectivism. The free hand of the market is soaked in blood, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, there\u2019s the subtext. This sounds to me like an invitation to conflate communism with socialism (which are two different ideas with different histories<\/a>) and to champion one ideology over another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, let\u2019s not forget this all comes from state law. It\u2019s politics, not pedagogy, and in politics it\u2019s only indoctrination when someone else does it.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So are public school teachers really molding their students into young Bolsheviks<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I seriously doubt it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economic theory rarely comes up in math, reading or science. Maybe it comes up occasionally in social studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my middle school language arts classes, we discuss all kinds of things that come out of the books we\u2019re reading<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes economic inequality comes out of S. E. Hinton\u2019s \u201cThe Outsiders\u201d<\/a> or Harper Lee\u2019s \u201cTo Kill a Mockingbird.\u201d<\/a> When we read Lois Lowry\u2019s \u201cThe Giver\u201d<\/a> the concept of distribution of resources is broached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In each case, I encourage my students to think about the problems from the stories<\/a>, the solutions offered in the narratives and to discuss the matter with classmates. We hold Socratic Seminars and write critical essays. For \u201cThe Giver,\u201d students work in groups to create their own utopias \u2013 you\u2019d be surprised how many are socialist, though there are also a number of capitalist republics, dictatorships, and anarchies. Kids love anarchy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Education] is one of the chief engines of change, and nothing can truly stop that. If Republicans think they can, they\u2019re in for a shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I admit it \u2013 I encourage my students to think for themselves. I try not to give them my answers \u2013 my truths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facts are facts and opinions are opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would be a bad teacher if I forced my conclusions on my students<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why ARE<\/em><\/strong> young people increasingly more critical of capitalism these days and more friendly toward socialism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say it\u2019s because of the income inequality they see in the world around them<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite Republican\u2019s claims, capitalism is not a perfect system<\/a>. To be fair, no system is. But criticizing capitalism is not a bad thing, and finding value in aspects of socialism<\/a> is no crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve a better world, we have to do more than simply recreate the one in which we live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why education is so important. It is one of the chief engines of change, and nothing can truly stop that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Republicans think they can, they\u2019re in for a shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps they should have paid more attention in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or exposed their opinions to more rigorous critical thinking\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder what lie about public school they\u2019ll try next<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STEVEN SINGER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steven Singer is a husband, father, teacher, blogger and education advocate. Singer is an 8th grade Language Arts teacher in western Pennsylvania. He is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher and has an MAT from the University of Pittsburgh. He is Director of the Research and Blogging Committee for the Badass Teachers Association. He is co-founder of the Pennsylvania-based education budget advocacy group T.E.A.C.H. (Tell Everyone All Cuts Hurt). He often writes at his own blog, gadflyonthewallblog.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos arrives for the 45th Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on December 4, 2022. \u00a0(Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images) Can you imagine a country where everyone was fully educated? People might… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24721,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24720\/revisions\/24721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}