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The GOP has been playing the long game on this one. They started their campaign to wreck public education 50 years ago. Keep the minions dumb, right?
My parents shunted me into private education. The Scottsdale (yes, that one) Unified School District was still doing a decent job, but they didn’t like where this was going in 1988. PCDS was worse, but it would take them three years to figure this out. I was knocked down two grades in math (I’d been taking prealgebra in third grade, having already taken coursework for kids at ASU) and then was essentially torn down to fit in.
My art teacher there saw something in me, though, and became a bit of a mentor alongside my orchestra teacher. When I finally left, the president of the school sent a handwritten note regretting my experiences there and expressing solidarity that I was mistreated. Not exactly what one expects from a private school, but she had nothing to lose.
I engineered my departure by swearing at the principal. When I was as a result disinvited from the class trip, my parents finally stepped in and pulled me out. That’s a heavy lift in eighth grade and the first time I cried with joy.
I think that whole experience may have set me up to be very angry at authority, which is where you want to be as an effective journalist. I just didn’t yet realize that’s where I’d be heading.
You know, what occurs here is that the teachers were in the arts. I was then told in high school to stick with math.
And then the head of the math department gave me an early version of Chicago, which would later become known as Windows 95.
Any country with a shred of dignity would hide in shame. The very notion of intentionally dismantling the systems of intelect and learning for your citizens, your future leaders, should be something any true government of the people would fight against with everything they have.
I’m too worn down to fight, sadly.
You are fighting. Maybe not in a physical sense, but you’re doing good work. Spreading information can lead to people taking actions. And that can lead to change. We all have a role to play
