Self-Sufficient Citizens: Public Education's Job No. 1
Dear Deborah,
We've been writing about the democratic control of education (or the lack thereof), but let me shift the conversation back to the education of democratic citizens. I strongly agree with those who argue that our current fascination with "college and career readiness" overlooks a third, probably more important, c-word: citizenship. That's public education's raison d'etre, right? To prepare our young people to take their rightful place as voters, jurors, taxpayers, and leaders--to become "the people" that gives our government its legitimacy?
Many people are doing good work on this challenge; let me recommend that you check out the new group Citizenship First, for starters. (Here's a neat idea they are promoting: By 2026, every high school graduate should be able to pass the U.S. Naturalization Exam.)
But I want to put a related issue on the table that rarely gets discussed. It's the most basic requirement of citizenship, a responsibility that we "experts" often overlook in our quest for more ambitious goals: self-sufficiency.
Let me state it clearly: If we haven't prepared our young people to be financially self-sufficient once they finish their educations, we have failed our most fundamental duty. And the "we" is