The Purpose of Public Education

I’ve had this blog sitting in drafts for some time - so it’s a little out of date, but still something I’m excited about.

I was delighted to see an opinion section in the NYT about what education is for. I haven’t read all the pieces, but it calls to mind why education is such a difficult thing to change in our country.

David Labaree laid out three competing goals in education in his seminal work on public and private goods in education (read the full paper for free on his blog). These goals include democratic equality-the need to create informed citizens for a democracy, social efficiency - preparing the future workforce for the public good; and social mobility - the individual’s ability to improve their economic and social outcome.

The tension between these roles can partially explain conflicts we currently face- anti-Critical Race Theory legislation, student loan debt, etc.

In my own research work, I center Marginson’s question of “whose good is the public good?” So for example, both sides of the CRT debate appear to use the same public goods arguments (democratic citizenship) - though the barrage against CRT is prioritizing the good of the powerful few instead of America’s broad and diverse public.

We are not yet out of crisis. We may not all be wearing KN95s in class, but we are without a doubt seeing the implosion of public education. Teachers are leaving the profession because of untenable conditions. Students of color are underserved, and districts are struggling with financial burdens. These problems existed prior to the pandemic, but our public health and political context have intensified the problems that already existed.

The pandemic presented an opportunity to rethink what education is for. Gloria Ladson-Billings has said that crisis gives us an opportunity for a “hard reset”, like wiping a phone. As we seek to rebuild and recover, whose good will we center? Will we be content with the success of a few, or will we build something for all of us?