WELL SAID! Teach Your Children Well

Teach Your Children Well Why Tim Walz is the perfect antidote to Project 2025 Dan Rather and Team Steady Aug 7 Credit: Getty Images If you are a seasoned reader of Steady, you know how I feel about public education. I believe it is a civil right and a great equalizer. I also feel strongly that teachers are some of the most important public servants in our society. Preserving a robust public school system is vital to the well-being of our citizens and the health of our democracy.  To see two products of public education as the Democratic nominees for president and vice president of the United States does my heart good. Vice President Kamala Harris attended public schools in Oakland, California, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz not only attended public schools through graduate school but also taught in Minnesota public schools for decades. Theirs is the ultimate American dream — and validation that our education system can work. It is a system that is far from perfect, but please understand there’s a plan being promoted by the MAGA right that will gut it dramatically, minimizing the federal government’s role in education. By this point you have no doubt heard of Project 2025, the radical blueprint for a second Trump administration created by The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The authors of this 900-page tome have a lot of ideas about the future of public schools. Most are controversial; some are genuinely awful.  Under the banner of “advancing education freedom,” Project 2025 would fundamentally change how American children are educated. It proposes to: Disband the U.S. Department of Education — an agency mandated with ensuring equal educational access for all. Phase out Title 1 funding, which helps children from low-income families. Give money directly to families in the form of vouchers, which would be used for private education. Eliminate Head Start, which provides early childhood education to poor families, especially in rural areas. Scale back the federal school meals program. Abolish the Parent PLUS loan program, which helps low- and middle-income families pay for college. Roll back regulations that protect students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Prosecute schools that maintain affirmative action policies. You might be scratching your head about some or all of these proposals. I know I am. Why eliminate or change programs that are working to make a positive difference in students' lives, are popular, and are morally correct? The polling on Project 2025 must be terrible for Republicans, because Donald Trump is running from the plan like his coattails are on fire.   For contrast, Gov. Walz, Kamala Harris’s newly minted running mate, is tackling many of the issues raised by Project 2025 with a decidedly different bent. This is a guy who was a high school social studies teacher and football coach for more than 20 years. He brings a lot to the table at a moment when education is front and center in American politics.  Walz believes strong public schools are a shared American value. His education policies are the antithesis of Project 2025. As governor, he: Increased spending to Minnesota’s K-12 schools, by $400 per student. Provided free breakfast and lunch to every public school student in the state. Walz believes, and studies show, that children who are hungry can’t learn. When asked by CNN if the free meal policy made him too progressive, he responded, “What a monster. Kids are eating, eating and having full bellies so they can go learn …  if that’s where they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the label.”  Created the North Star Promise program, which covers college tuition for students of families making less than $80,000 a year. Boosted wages for early child care providers. Funded unemployment for hourly school employees during the summer break. Extended the pandemic-era $1,750 per-child tax credit when the federal mandate ended. It should be noted that having a multibillion-dollar state budget surplus in Minnesota helped with all the above.   Schools have become battlegrounds in the culture wars now more than ever. The number of banned books is on the rise, while many people’s willingness to confront and teach America’s complicated history is on the decline. But we cannot give up on public education. Walz’s policies show that change and improvements are possible without torching the entire construct. Public education is, after all, about shaping the minds of our children. No institutions have more power in determining what this country will become than our schools. To support my team’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism, please consider joining as a paid subscriber. It keeps Steady sustainable and accessible to all. Thank you. No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading. Stay Steady, Dan