Now that 45 is gone, or gone-ish, I have been seeing a lot of think pieces about the US social failures that led to the rise of this fascist movement. One critique that comes up often is that our schools have failed, that we have allowed too many millions to be suckers for dim-witted conspiracy theories, we have allowed a narrative that feeds white people’s paranoia, we have simply not taught history and civics and even statistics well. Certainly the defunding of education has left schools deprived of opportunities to develop rich experiences for students.
This may all be true but if we are going to take a hard look at the failings of education, I’m afraid too many policy-makers, administrators, and teachers have ducked responsibility for our own complicity in creating a population that is uninformed and susceptible to the demagogue. In fact, a broad range of educators would do well to look in the mirror in seeking the origins of Trumpism.
First, let us recognize that the population that is educationally “at risk,” the students who need important attention and adaptation, are not the Black and Brown kids, not the immigrant kids, not the queer kids. They have demonstrated a degree of civic sophistication that is historic. Notice the CONTINUE READING: Never Again Trump? We Had Better Attend to Our Schools | by Rick Ayers | Jan, 2021 | Medium
