Document Type
Opinion
Publication Date
5-15-2017
Department 1
Education
Abstract
George W. Bush said it as he warned us about "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Barack Obama said it. So did Mitt Romney, Arne Duncan, and John McCain.
And now Donald Trump is saying it, too. In his first joint-session address to Congress, President Trump promised that "our children will grow up in a nation of miracles" and added the familiar kicker: "Education is the civil rights issue of our time." He said it right before he announced his plan to ask Congress to pass new legislation supporting school choice. His idea of a school reform "miracle," apparently, is to convince America to accept choice, rather than equity, as the controlling idea in public education. (excerpt)
Copyright Note
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Powell, Dave. "No, Education Isn't the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time." Education Week (May 15, 2017).
Required Publisher's Statement
Original version available online from Education Week.