Or, they are aware. And they know that, without public school teachers, families will have to homeschool their kids or send them to private school. And why would they want that? A few reasons, not least of which is making it harder for moms to stay in the workforce. Beyond that, there's... 1/ - ThreadSky

jessicacalarco.bsky.social • 191 days ago

Or, they are aware. And they know that, without public school teachers, families will have to homeschool their kids or send them to private school.

And why would they want that? A few reasons, not least of which is making it harder for moms to stay in the workforce.

Beyond that, there's... 1/

Reposted from Paul Krugman

The usual suspects are out there yelling "There are 23 million government workers! Fire most of them!" No awareness that most work for local governments, and most of *them* are schoolteachers. Federal employment hasn't grown since the 1950s

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cassandragrosh.bsky.social•190 days ago

I struggle greatly with this. Being a grad student, I can’t afford rent in a district with strong programs & teachers, & I don’t want my Au kid in a crowded room without appropriate resources. But how tf do I do grad school + homeschool? — I’m not supposed to; the current system = failure

jimmy-jim-james.bsky.social•191 days ago

I sometimes get the feeling that whole industries depend on precocity.

krisnordstrom.bsky.social•191 days ago

Public schools (when done correctly) are the only public institution that fosters cross-class and cross-racial solidarity, thereby threatening existing hierarchies

drspedinnv.bsky.social•191 days ago

And who really has the resources to homeschool? Only fundy moms who don’t work, & once their kids hit middle/high school, they’re not doing academics well. My daughter was briefly home bound for SpEd reasons & it was ROUGH. I was paying tutors to cover subjects I couldn’t & I’m a SpEd prof.

bobooten.bsky.social•191 days ago

Crushing teacher unions is their dream.

jessicacalarco.bsky.social•191 days ago

The fact that eliminating public schooling would:

1. increase inequality among kids to the point of creating a permanent underclass that can be forced into underpaid jobs no one else wants

2. leave many Americans without the critical thinking skills they need to question authoritarianism 2/

laurentguy.bsky.social•191 days ago

Defunding public schools would seem a cut too far. Most of the schools’ funding in PA is from local real estate taxes anyway, fwiw.

But what do I know? Find a way to defund public schools in blue states?

jessicacalarco.bsky.social•191 days ago

The federal government plays a role (through Title I) in subsidizing schools in low-income areas (which struggle under a property tax funding model). Eliminating that funding would, in the absence of state intervention, lead to a substantial increase in inequality, even in blue states.

laurentguy.bsky.social•191 days ago

Yes, that mechanism is clear. Maybe I am naive but it seems a bit blunt and probably unpopular. And not likely to save much money at the federal level.

92andthensome.bsky.social•191 days ago

Their goal isn’t to save federal dollars….

jessicacalarco.bsky.social•191 days ago

I agree that it wouldn't be popular. I'm just saying that this is why the idea has appeal to certain politicians (who arguably don't care much about what their constituents want anyway).

slyprofessor.bsky.social•191 days ago

Exactly. Thus far “unpopular among voters” hasn’t really cost the GOP politicians who turn those unpopular plans into policies. We need to disrupt the public commonsense that assumes Radically Unpopular means GOP won’t make it policy.

jaqjaqeats.bsky.social•191 days ago

It would also grow a weird alt-right class of Christian nationalists who grew up being homeschooled. So many stories about couples escaping that system and raising their kids differently and having to learn with their kids all the things homeschooling left out.

alessandrak.bsky.social•190 days ago

Between inadequate reading instruction programs in public schools, a hyper focus on high stakes testing, and an overreliance on asynchronous online learning, I fear we already have a generation of kids who lack critical thinking skills.

maroonphoenix.bsky.social•191 days ago

They can force it one group of families at a time. Already, families that can’t afford to get Covid twice a year (immune-compromised or similar) are forced to homeschool, even though many would rather that they could safely send their children to public schools.

jugistoteles.bsky.social•190 days ago

Will Davies wrote a brilliant piece some years ago, on exactly this phenomenon: shifting responsibilities from the state (and other public actors) to the family. This is the conservative dream that would kill social mobility.

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