Demanding an end to the failed policies that have dominated the United States for more than two decades, a coalition of public education advocates has put forth what they consider to be the top five guiding principles the incoming Biden administration should adopt if the president-elect wants to fulfill his "promised commitment to our nation's public schools."
"We need a public education champion who rejects efforts to privatize public schools, whether those efforts be via private school vouchers or charter schools."
—Network for Public Education
"50.8 million children who attend real public schools need a secretary of education who will be their advocate, not an advocate for privatization," tweeted Carol Burris, a retired teacher and the executive director of the Network for Public Education (NPE), which led the effort to demand pro-public leadership in Biden's Department of Education.
In order to build a stronger and more just public education system, NPE penned a letter—which readers may sign—urging the Biden administration to pursue the following objectives:
- Rebuild our nation's public schools, which have been battered by the pandemic, two decades of failed federal policy, and years of financial neglect;
- Reject efforts to privatize public schools, whether those efforts be via vouchers or charter schools;
- End the era of high-stakes standardized testing—in both the immediate future and beyond;
- Promote diversity, desegregation (both among and within schools), and commit to eliminating institutional racism in school policy and practices; and
- Promote educational practices that are child-centered, inquiry-based, intellectually challenging, culturally responsive, and respectful of all students' innate capacities and potential to thrive.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic consequences, state CONTINUE READING: Defenders of US Public Schools Call on Biden to Ditch Trump's Disastrous Education Policies—and Obama's Too | Common Dreams News