Public Education (Part One): Scaffolding.
Unf*cking The Republic
A Brief History of Public Education in the United States
The U.S. still ranks pretty high in terms of tertiary education and international students, but there's no question that our achievement levels have been dropping comparatively. Cuts to school budgets continued to mount since the recession, and the pandemic exacerbated the situation dramatically. Our fractured response to COVID had a measurable and negative impact on our kids. We simply weren't prepared.
Today is the first in a three-part series on public education in the United States. The focus is on compulsory K-12 education. We begin the series by educating ourselves on the business of education and stripping away the hysteria surrounding mask mandates, CRT, school prayer and kitty litter in bathrooms. Along the way we identify key stakeholders, look at outcomes and measurements, offer a primer on how schools are funded and examine the ongoing mass exodus from the profession of teaching. With a solid foundation in place, the episode ends with an overview of the more fundamental criticisms of public education to understand how and why public education is under attack in this nation.
Chapters
Intro: 00:00:21
Chapter One: Framing the Inquiry. 00:05:43
Chapter Two: The Structure and Language of Education. 00:15:26
Chapter Three: The Opposition. 00:26:15
Post Show Musings: 00:38:05
Outro: 00:39:58
Resources
World Socialist Web Site: 2.6 million US educators and staff quit public K-12 and higher education jobs during pandemic
National Center for Education Statistics: Public School Enrollment
The Nation’s Report Card: Student Performance Across Subjects
National Center for Education Statistics: Total number of public school teachers and percentage of public school teachers in a union or employees' association, by selected school characteristics: 2015–16
Resilient Educator: Your Guide to Education Lingo
Learning Journals: What Are the Different Pedagogical Approaches to Learning?
Rasmussen University: What Is Reggio Emilia? Your Guide to This Child-Driven Approach
Stanford: An Introduction to Design Thinking
Understood: Understanding IEPs
Resilient Educator: Project Based Learning: A Hands On Approach To Teaching
Bookshop.org: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
National Association for Science, Medicine and Engineering: The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education: Branches from the Same Tree
Resilient Educator: Why the “A” in STEAM Education is Just As Important As Every Other Letter
U.S. News: IB vs. AP: Discover the Differences
Peter G. Peterson Foundation: How Is K-12 Education Funded?
Pew Charitable Trusts: ‘Lost Decade’ Casts a Post-Recession Shadow on State Finances
OECD: Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2012
National Center for Education Statistics: Long-term trends in reading and mathematics achievement
The Heritage Foundation: The Battle Over Parents’ Rights in Education Is Just Getting Started
The Heritage Foundation: America’s School Choice Moment Can’t Be Missed at Midterm Elections
Bookshop: Race to the Bottom
UNFTR: F*ck Milton Friedman.
Book Love
Derek W. Black: Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy
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Unf*cking the Republic is produced by 99 and engineered by Manny Faces Media (mannyfacesmedia.com). Original music is by Tom McGovern (tommcgovern.com). The show is written and hosted by Max and distributed by 99.
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