The War on Democracy in Our Schools
Open letter to the editors of The Atlantic in response to an article by Erika Christakis, “Americans Have Given Up on Public Schools. That’s a Mistake.”
Erika Christakis is right that “We ignore public schools’ civic and integrative functions at our peril,” but she misses a broader and timelier conclusion: we ignore the civic and integrative functions of any American school, public or private, at great peril to our democracy.
Erika Christakis is right that “We ignore public schools’ civic and integrative functions at our peril,” but she misses a broader and timelier conclusion: we ignore the civic and integrative functions of any American school, public or private, at great peril to our democracy.
The private school where I work includes a more diverse student body than public schools that secede from larger systems to avoid desegregation. Our liberal faith-based school promotes open inquiry into the role of religion and spirituality in American civic life, an urgent topic too controversial for public and even many private schools. This private school is more dedicated to teaching students critical thinking skills for intelligent democratic policy-making than are public schools that prohibit accurate teaching of climate and evolutionary science. We will have different models of financing and organizing schools in this country for the foreseeable future. Let’s support all schools preparing students to participate civilly and productively in our wonderfully chaotic democratic conversation, and call out those public and private schools prioritizing narrower political ends that further imperil our already fragile future.
Follow Julian on Twitter @cannonbull
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Follow Julian on Twitter @cannonbull
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Phone 818.980.7280
Campbell Hall is an independent, Episcopal, K-12 all gender day school. We are a community of inquiry committed to academic excellence and to the nurturing of decent, loving, and responsible human beings.
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Campbell Hall admits students of any race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletics and other school-administered programs.
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