I find it hard to believe, without a lot more justification than they're offering that somehow that there's this new secret sauce to opportunity and equality and democracy that does not involve public education as the fundamental pillar. So you have people arguing that it's not. They're not saying we want to destroy democracy, but I'm saying, you as reader, you as listeners, need to think about the long-term consequences of shrinking the public education footprint and moving back into a siloed or a fiefdom or a private system that resembles our darkest days.

Derek W. Black

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Key Highlights Include

Derek explains the case for a right to education.
A brief history of public education in the United States
How the NAACP used the language of democracy in their litigation for school desegregation
Why vouchers and charter schools threaten public education
Finally, the intersection of public education and democracy runs throughout the conversation

Key Links

Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy by Derek W. Black

San Antonio Independent School District et. al. v. Rodriguez

Follow Derek W. Black @DerekWBlack

Carolyn Hendriks, Selen Ercan and John Boswell on Mending Democracy

Yom Kippur Fast Episode