Dismantling Education, Dismantling Democracy

Dear Mr. President,

Received your July 2 letter yesterday. It’s brief—less than a page—and the crux of it is this: “Despite our differences, most of us share common hopes for America’s future—opportunity for our children, security for our seniors, and the broad-based prosperity that stems from a rising, thriving middle class. While we may disagree on how to get there, I remain committed to forging reasonable compromise where we can. Together we can strengthen our Union, safeguard our liberties, and restore the basic bargain at the heart of the American dream—the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead.” We may share common hopes for our future but I don’t see you leading us there. The middle class is still shrinking, wages falling and unemployment 7.6%. State and local governments are hard-pressed, cutting services and safety nets while the war machine—the Pentagon and security agencies and their contractors—sucks the economy dry. For example, a college education, which used to be affordable, now means a lifetime of indentured servitude to pay off loans that fatten banker bonuses. Here in San Francisco, 85,000 students attend Community College which will have its accreditation revoked next July, not by the Board of Education but by a quasi-private commission whose motives are suspect. The school has suffered poor administrative leadership and weak governance but academic quality is excellent and their benefit to the community is huge. Without accreditation the school is ineligible for public funding and will have to close, driving many of the 85,000 students into for-profit learning centers like Phoenix. Not for lack of funding or poor academic outcomes, but for administrative incompetence, something easily fixed. Shutting down a major public institution that provides affordable education lessens opportunity for our young and CCSF is only one casualty in the wave of the privatization of education sweeping the country. Chicago is closing 49 elementary schools, Pittsburgh closed 7 in 2012, Cleveland closed 16 in 2010 and 7 in 2011, and New York City closed 164 over the past decade. For-profit charter schools are replacing public K-12 schools, for-profit colleges and universities are replacing community and state-funded institutions, a process your Department of Education champions. I see it not as promoting “common hopes for America’s future,” but the dismantling of democracy in America. Part of your legacy, Mr. President.