Q: Is it possible for education to be separated from politics?
A: Not really. The American public spends close to $2 trillion a year on K–12 and higher education. When public officials are allocating vast sums to provide a service through government-run or -subsidized institutions, there are going to be disagreements. Politics is how we resolve those without throwing rocks at one another. Education is inherently political. The question is whether our education politics are healthy or unhealthy.
Q: So, are our education politics healthy?
A: Nah, not by a long shot. I just mentioned the problem with social media, polarization, and the resulting incentives. More broadly, politics has been totalized. Politicians are supposed to be political, of course. But politics should be one thread in the broader civic tapestry. The problem is that political identity has taken on outsized importance in American life. During the pandemic, school closures became a test of one’s feelings about Donald Trump. Sensible attempts to revamp history standards or strengthen civics got co-opted by the progressive “America sucks” crowd, which has yielded a backlash from MAGA warriors. Much of today’s education politics isn’t even about ideology—it’s about theater.
Q: What do you mean it’s not about ideology? It seems like we’ve got intense ideological fights about education.