I support public schools because I have personally witnessed how powerful a public school can be in bringing together a diverse community over a common interest: the betterment and education of our children. This notion is lost in most private and some charter schools as they promote competition and elitism over community building. There are exceptions, such as the AZ Aspire Academy, that endeavor to meet special needs in ways that public schools simply cannot.
However, it's hard to get around the fact that as great as the public school system can be, it is also flawed, if not broken. Standardized testing is prioritized over critical thinking and learning. Purchasing packaged curricula is prioritized over teacher and staff pay. In the box programs are instituted over out of the box, customized approaches. School boards govern with political interest over student well-being.
The first step in overcoming this mentality is recognizing that the #RedforEd demands are valid and necessary in order to re-prioritize and advance education as a whole in Arizona.
No matter how strong the private school sector may be, the state will only be as strong as the public school system. That is what businesses identify when considering a corporate establishment or relocation.
No matter how strong the private school sector may be, the state will only be as strong as the public school system. That is what businesses identify when considering a corporate establishment or relocation.
But this is all being undermined by a conservative movement to privatize education and essentially eliminate the community buy-in that the public system cultivates. This movement is led by true-believers who feel this way is not only the right way to set America on its best course, but the only way. True-believer-ism is the single most dangerous approach to policy and societal development, especially in a republic like the United States, where our supposed democracy can be usurped by dark-of-night passages of laws and budgets that force our lives in directions we would never individually choose. The Koch Network epitomizes this, and the governor of Arizona is a member and advocate of this system.
Now is the time to be aware. Now is the time to speak up. Now is the time to vote. Now is the time to do something.
