Cunningham: Ed Reform Essayists Blame Failures on the Left While Claiming High Ground on Character for the Right. They’re Wrong on Both Counts
Do distinct conservative and liberal perspectives on public education truly exist, or are our differences often exaggerated for political purposes? Is it only progressives who advocate for increased funding, and only conservatives who support school choice? Don’t both sides have a complex relationship with accountability? Can’t we find common ground on the importance of civic education?
These were the questions that occupied my mind as I delved into a collection of essays compiled by the conservative think tank Thomas B. Fordham Institute, aptly titled How to Educate an American. The subtitle, in case it escapes your notice, is The Conservative Vision for Tomorrow’s Schools.
The authors of these essays are influential figures in the conservative sphere, individuals whose names are familiar to anyone who regularly reads conservative education blogs and opinion pieces, like myself. I engage with their work not only to challenge my progressive views but also to hone my own counterarguments.
I find myself disconcerted by this book, primarily because it lays claim to values that are by no means exclusive to conservatives. It almost acknowledges this fact by beginning with a preface from Lamar Alexander, a former U.S. education secretary and Tennessee senator, who praises Albert Shanker, a renowned leaders of teachers unions, for his description of the purpose of public education.
Shanker stated, "The public school was established with the aim of teaching immigrant children the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as the essence of being an American, in the hope that they would then educate their parents."
After eighteen essays, the editors summarize their efforts with the following educational objectives: cultivating informed citizenship, fostering moral and virtuous character, and creating a system that bestows dignity, respect, and opportunity upon all individuals. While not as succinct as Shanker’s statement, it is worth noting that over half a century ago, Martin Luther King Jr., a progressive civil rights leader, asserted that the goal of education is to develop "intelligence plus character."
Let us also consider the words of Randi Weingarten, Shanker’s successor as president of the American Federation of Teachers. In a speech to educators in July, she remarked, "At its best, public education serves as a ladder of opportunity, a means to escape poverty, a realm for fostering civic engagement, where we embrace America’s diversity while forging a collective identity – truly the bedrock of democracy."
The point is clear – progressives place just as much importance on character and citizenship as anyone else. Furthermore, we believe that today’s conservative politics fall short in both these areas, as they enable an unscrupulous and unethical president in the history of America. To be fair, some of the authors in the book adamantly oppose Trump, but their movement cannot absolve themselves of responsibility for this disastrous situation.
Putting that aside, the book asserts that conservatives made excessive compromises with progressives in order to achieve bipartisan support for education reform. To correct this course, they now claim moral superiority in their focus on character, while blaming progressives for most of the failures in reform.
It is worth mentioning that there are a few timid admissions of fault regarding test-based accountability, but the main purpose of this book is to attack progressives as being "fixated on social justice, racial disparities, the link between schools and the criminal justice system, and other aspects of the contemporary left."
Well, guilty as charged. Educational systems that overlook these issues and actively deny their significance do not deserve to be labeled as "education." They should be seen as the conditioning of individuals for a life in a world where America’s promise of equality consistently and tragically goes unfulfilled. In that case, perhaps the book should truly be titled How to Educate a Serf.
We hear from two former U.S. education secretaries in this book. Rod Paige, who last taught in a K-12 classroom in 1964, went on to enact No Child Left Behind, the most significant education law in American history. In his essay, he argues that the missing element in educational reform is that children simply do not exert enough effort. Bill Bennett, who has extensively written on morals and character, advocates for a greater emphasis on content rather than skills.
The arguments put forth in this book rely on selective anecdotes and cherry-picked data, framed with rhetorical flourishes such as the one from Jonah Goldberg: "American students are increasingly being taught that they can learn nothing valuable from America’s past except the evils embedded in our constitutional order and our basic civic institutions." It brings to mind the infamous report, A Nation at Risk.
Kay Hymowitz criticizes middle-class parenting that emphasizes individuality in schools. Heather Mac Donald continues to defend the excessive suspension of black children. Ramesh Ponnuru, who has a Princeton education, argues against the idea of college for all, even though I don’t know any progressive who actually supports it.
Yuval Levin ends the discussion by expressing his disappointment in conservatives who prioritize pleasing liberals obsessed with injustice over the development of character. He believes that conservatives view education as a means to support societal institutions such as the family, church, community, and civic life. In contrast, he accuses progressives of wanting to liberate individuals even if it weakens these already fragile social bonds.
Levin suggests that justice and order inherently clash with each other and advises us to embrace our imperfections as humans rather than disrupting the social order. I would like to remind him of Martin Luther King Jr. and his Letter From Birmingham Jail, in which he expresses his disappointment in the "white moderate" who values "order" over justice. King promotes the idea of positive peace, which is achieved through the presence of justice, rather than negative peace, which is merely the absence of tension.
I admire Fordham for taking on this challenge. Progressives should also strive to do the same, although it would be difficult to find agreement within a political party that is divided between Senator Bernie Sanders and Vice President Joe Biden. However, the main objective of American education is not to achieve consensus. If that were the case, we would have national standards in place.
Peter Cunningham, the founder and board chair of Education Post, previously served as the assistant secretary for communications and outreach in the U.S. Department of Education during the first term of the Obama administration.
