Defending public education: a call to action

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/11/2024 (358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is an ongoing, concerted assault on public education. This statement was not generated to be alarmist nor sensationalist, but rather to illuminate some of the considerable tensions public educators and stakeholders are presently navigating.

Cognizant of recent political developments, we must be vigilant in proactively safeguarding quality public education in Manitoba.

The implications regarding the outcome of the United States presidential election cannot be understated, as proposed educational reforms will have global reverberations.

Project 2025, the now infamous 900-plus page policy framework designed to restructure the bureaucratic infrastructure of American democracy, appears to be on track to becoming a reality.

Within the expansive document, there are highly controversial recommendations for the next administration to disrupt public education. These guidelines include dismantling the U.S. department of education; legislatively enshrining “parental rights”; expanding school choice (promoting faith-based and/or elite schools for affluent families); promoting “patriotic education”’; and rejecting “gender ideology and critical race theory.”

Although U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has disavowed his associations with this policy framework, his comments have generally affirmed his allegiance to the authors’ intentions.

These positions were succinctly encapsulated in his statement: “On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children.”

Educational reforms have begun across the United States, particularly in Florida, Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma, among other states. In Florida, teachers are now legally mandated (via state curricula) to teach the vocational “benefits” of slavery and are occupationally forbidden to engage in gender and/or sexual orientation discussions with students. In Oklahoma, teachers are legislated to teach the Bible as a part of public educational programming.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, teacher demoralization, burnout and attrition are emerging issues in the United States. This trend is reflective of a worldwide phenomenon, as the United Nations continues to issue stark warnings of a looming global teacher shortage. In the United States, the situation is dire in various jurisdictions, as some local school boards resort to hiring underqualified individuals (such as parental volunteers) to fill vacant positions.

While many of us may assume we are immune from the escalating divisive rhetoric south of our border, I can assure that such manifestations have begun locally. These local developments include proposals for book banning; escalating threats and distrust toward teachers and school trustees; advancing the “parental rights” narrative; and residential school denialism.

There are also ongoing advocacies to reform public school function. Bill 64, as an example, was proposed legislation to significantly restructure and disrupt Manitoba public school democratic governance.

Of the proposed changes, perhaps the most notable revision pertained to large-scale amalgamations of school divisions (reducing Winnipeg to a single metro division), and replacing democratically elected trustees with government appointees.

This recommendation was publicly presented as a means to bolster financial efficiency. However, had such legislation succeeded, the power and influence of educational trajectories would have been consolidated to an oligarchical few.

For example, under this proposed framework, a single superintendent would have had the authority to oversee education of all children and youth for the entire city, being accountable to government appointees (rather than elected officials representing local community voices).

Now more than ever do we need to support our public schools and our teachers. There is a disconcerting rise in the distrust toward our teachers, labelling these workers as politically laden proselytizers aiming to convert children and youth.

As teachers, supporting our diverse Indigenous, racialized, LGBTTQ+, disabled youth is our legal and professional responsibility.

Teachers are ethically and legally obligated to adhere to the Manitoba Human Rights Code and are tasked with ensuring school learning spaces are safe and welcoming to all children and youth. To remain silent and render students’ diverse identities invisible would be a breach of professional conduct and an ethical travesty.

All students should be cherished, welcomed and celebrated for their authentic selves and should be reflected in public school programming. We must resist any reforms that compromise the sanctity of human rights or democratic infrastructures, but rather strive to bolster quality public education in Manitoba.

Jordan Laidlaw is a teacher, union activist, Ph.D. candidate and member of People4PublicEducation.