Education and the Elections
In a democratic republic, the fundamental task of education is to empty the nursery and people the commonwealth. This is the task of educating citizens for rule, for sovereignty as a people, not as subjects, workers, or consumers. There is strong evidence that we have lost sight of this public purpose of education. Today, we misguidedly elevate secondary goals of education 鈥 鈥渃ollege and career readiness鈥 鈥 to the level of first principles.
The federal education initiatives of 鈥淣o Child Left Behind鈥 (Bush II) and 鈥淩ace to the Top鈥 (Obama) have dangled the lure of more federal dollars in front of hungry state education budgets. It is not surprising that our leaders snap at the bait. But with the bait comes the hook 鈥 the diet of state and federal standards, testing regimen, and assessment and accountability measures as ordered up by special private interests.
Indeed, it was through a sense of the public good that the federal government originally entered into education. The question raised in the 1960’s was how the federal government might help the states bring excluded, ill-served minorities into the mainstream of the American school 鈥 questions of equity and justice. Over time, however, the federal education agenda has increasingly become captive to America鈥檚 economic competitive position. Ironically, the drive for enhanced profits by American business has led to the loss of millions of American jobs off-shored to cheaper labor markets.
Though the remaining jobs available to Americans are increasingly low-tech, service jobs, the federal initiatives preserve the illusion that future jobs require a curriculum diet in math, science, and language arts 鈥渇acts鈥 that can be easily tested. (Yet why hire an American engineer, when an Indian or Chinese engineer can be hired at 1/4 to 1/2 the salary?)
And if the diet they test is important to the education of citizens, it is no more special than social studies, humanities, art, music, and foreign languages that are being driven out of our schools by it. These are all disciplines for creating citizens. They deserve to be confronted and mastered equally. And while there is nothing special about mathematics and music per se (except to professional mathematicians and musicians), it is the connections among these disciplines that matter to creating citizens. For the issues of public life rarely confront us through the lens of a single discipline.
Most issues of public concern involve multiple disciplines linked in multifarious ways. Connections among the disciplines must be made, inferences drawn and tested, and critical imagination engaged. Continuously testing math knowledge in isolation from real world problems does not contribute to the education of citizens.
Hawaii stands at a crossroads in the upcoming elections. Our failure to educate for citizenship is not to be found in isolated math and reading scores. Rather, we need only point out that in the 2008 primary and general elections only 246,299 and 456,064, respectively, managed to vote out of a voter-eligible population of 1,004,000. Voting is the least-involving act of citizenship. Yet less than 1/2 of the voter-eligible population took their citizenship seriously at the most minimal level.
In the primary and general elections, we will be temporarily granting our sovereign power to a number of officials with influence over education, especially the next governor.
Will we have more furloughs of educators or will we empower educators to cultivate the next generation of citizens? Will we snap at the next baited hook out of D.C. or will we find the courage and resources to chart a stronger educational course? Please take the time to learn as much as you can about the record, background, and character of each candidate. As occupants of the office of citizen, it is our (least) responsibility to register and vote. Please become more involved if you can. Remember, our future and the future of our children are at stake.
David Ericson, UH-Manoa
Virgie Chattergee, UH-Manoa (Emerita)
Odetta Fujimora, DOE (Ret.)
Joan Husted, DOE (Ret.)
June Motokawa, DOE (Ret.)
Ralph Stueber, UH-Manoa (Emeritus)
