Unreasonable Live! Back to School Edition
Episode Fourteen: "The Assault on Public Education"
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From the start, we knew that Unreasonable would leave the studio as a form of outreach, as a way to engage our audience and attract new listeners, especially young people.
Which is why we held our first live event, on the topic of public education, at an institute of higher learning. Invited to record at Widener University by our friend Prof. Stephanie Schechner, we were able to speak directly to students who are being handed, as far as the future of our republic is concerned, a very tattered mantle.
We get that, for many of them, the draw of cynicism and complacency around politics is all too powerful. But we’re seeing now — and hope they recognize — where complacency and cynicism lead. If we’re to preserve our democracy, cynicism and complacency are indulgences we cannot afford.
Yet, we are seeing signs that America’s youth are willing to pick up and repair that mantle. David Hogg, one of the leaders of March for Our Lives, recently launched a new PAC, Leaders We Deserve, to fund young progressive candidates. Their work was instrumental in the creation of the new federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention which President Biden announced last week.
This new generation of leaders may save us yet!
When we give up on our students, especially those in public schools, we relinquish our collective responsibility as stewards of a thriving democracy.
Yet, here’s the thing: there are millions of Americans dedicated to tearing down our public education system. Our country has a long history of anti-intellectualism, which seemed dormant during the second half of the 20th century but was born again with the presidency of George W. Bush and reached its current fervor with Donald (“We love the poorly educated”) Trump, who knows instinctively that those who haven’t been taught to think critically will believe anything he tells them.
When we give up on our students, especially those in public schools, we relinquish our collective responsibility as stewards of a thriving democracy. After all, knowledge is power. In a democracy, knowledge is also a birthright. Defunding our public schools, demonizing public school teachers, diverting public funding to private and religious institutions, deprives our kids — soon to be adults — of that power, and assigns to them less than first-class citizenship.
And to some highly-motivated (and well-funded) members of American society, that’s precisely what would make America great again. Thus, from local school boards to the highest court in the land, public education is under attack.
What’s happening on the ground and in the courts, and what can we all do moving forward to prevent a theocratic takeover of our secular schools?
In our special Back To School episode we talk with Liz Cavell (Associate Counsel, Freedom from Religion Foundation and co-host of the “We Dissent” podcast); Dan Mach (Director, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief); and for a local perspective, Chris Ullery, Extremism and Social Justice Reporter for the USA Today Network in PA).
There was so much to talk about, and only so much time. Unreasonable will continue to follow the actions of those hell bent on discriminating against students and teachers, rewriting history, and undermining our public education system.
This is only the beginning.
The Follow-up
Oklahoma jumps the shark, providing public funds to a discriminatory Catholic school. The ACLU, Freedom from Religion Foundation, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are litigating together.
Coach Kennedy makes his case, and in doing so reveals precisely why what he was doing was wrong.
Here’s a quick look at what the Independence Law Center is all about.
Dan Mach and the ACLU on the Carson v Makin decision.
Central Bucks school board says Don’t Say Gay.
Liz Cavell describes PragerU teaching material as “ahistorical.” This is what she’s talking about. (We direct you to point No. 3.)
Know your candidates. These are the folks who want to abandon public school students in favor of charters and religious schools…with your tax dollars.
Chris Ullery describes PA Family as the warriors of the Christian Nationalist movement. Meet PA Family, advocates for “Pennsylvania to be a place where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished.” Oh, they also want to make it easy for people to opt out of secular education.
What’s the deal with the Westboro Baptist Church?
Does the Heritage Foundation really have the clout to influence SCOTUS? You decide.