Stand up for public education

By Angie Trudell Vasquez

Tribune News Service

We need to fully support our public schools.

I am the product of the Des Moines, Iowa, public school system. I went to Willard Elementary on the east side of Des Moines in the 1970s. We had good teachers and were rigorously taught the basics: reading, writing, language and math.

By the time I entered seventh grade, I was reading and comprehending at the level of a college graduate, according to the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Some of this was due to my home life, but a good portion of that was because of the high quality of the Des Moines public school system.

Class sizes

I don’t think my experience is unique. Many people would affirm that a particular class or teacher prepared them well for life. The public school system works when it is well funded and teachers have reasonable class sizes and enough books and desks and chairs for their students.

Our democracy is built on our public school system being available to every child, regardless of skin color or residence. A functioning democracy requires an educated citizenry. It does not exist in order to create wealth for people who are already incredibly wealthy and who have no need for public education because their kids go to private schools. Public school systems should not be squeezed to funnel public funds to private entities. It is unconscionable, and it is happening right now.

The funding of education has become a battleground. You cannot keep defunding the public school systems in this country and then swoop up those starved schools to hand them to private operators to make money off of our children’s education. The No. 1 reason private companies exist is to make money for their shareholders — not the common good, and certainly not to provide kids with a good education.

We must stand up for free, quality public education and adequate funding for our schools. Public schools deserve our support. This is just some of what I learned during my school years.

Angie Trudell Vasquez is a poet and activist. She wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine.