Back in the Olden Times, most Americans agreed that public education mattered. Sure, there were arguments about funding and testing, but almost everyone accepted the basic premise.
Not anymore. Book bans, TikTok nonsense, school board showdowns, and a new push to make one brand of Christianity the default classroom setting have turned schools into the Roman Colosseum — with arguments over who’s the gladiator and who’s the lion.
The Shift
“School reform” used to mean improving reading scores or paying teachers a living wage. Now it’s about flags in classrooms, Ten Commandments displays, banned books, and viral videos that turn teachers or parents into villains for the algorithm.
The right says schools are indoctrinating kids with “dangerous ideas,” like tolerance. The left says truth and civics are under attack.
As with everything in our social-media world, outrage is the business model — and kids are stuck in the middle.
A Pew survey this year found more than 70 percent of Americans think public education is headed in the wrong direction. Ask why, and you’ll get a different answer from nearly every one of them.
On the Ground
Teacher morale has cratered. Some quit because the paycheck doesn’t cover the rent. Others don’t want to risk becoming the next viral target — threatened and harassed by angry parents who believe nonsense about “furries” or litter boxes in place of restrooms.
Or worse, the nonsense from President Trump that kids “go to school as a boy and come home as a girl,” as if understaffed schools are secretly running gender surgery clinics between lunch and gym.
In Florida, a teacher got in trouble for showing a Disney movie that mentioned a gay character. In Texas, another was suspended for assigning The Bluest Eye. Libraries are closed for “content reviews.”
Parents file anonymous complaints laced with spite and conspiracy theories. Administrators fear for their jobs — and sometimes their safety — for saying the wrong thing in a meeting.
The Real Cost
While the shouting gets louder, the basics are collapsing. Math and reading scores still lag from the pandemic. Teacher shortages are now permanent. And the people meant to fix things are preoccupied with ideological trench warfare.
Funding debates have become loyalty tests. Curriculum reviews are political theater. You can almost see Joe McCarthy reincarnated, waving his list — now hunting for “wokies” instead of “commies.”
Every headline screaming WOKE or BANNED drives more families away from public schools. And that’s fine with the movement that’s been trying to kill public education for decades.
Meanwhile, kids hunker down, running active-shooter drills — learning that if they survive the next one, they’ll still have to dodge political crossfire over guns.
The Exodus
Private and charter schools are booming. There’s profit in escape. Homeschooling has doubled since 2019. Tech platforms smell the money, pushing AI tutors and subscription lessons.
And it’s not just conservatives leaving. Liberal parents are bailing out too — tired of the chaos and the noise.
Sometimes I wonder if that’s the point: make enough noise, and public education dies. That’s been a dream of religious conservatives for a long time.
What We Lose
When schools stop being shared spaces, civic literacy dies with them. Kids grow up not just divided by income but by reality. They don’t just disagree — they don’t even speak the same language.
And what does that lead to? Politics. Public discourse. Adults who were never taught to separate fact from BS — adults who vote for whoever cooks up the most outrage, no matter how big the lie.
Education was where democracy taught itself to survive. Now it’s where democracy is cracking up.
Questions for You
How has the culture war touched your local school — through policy, curriculum, or just everyday talk?
Do you find yourself hesitant to attend school board meetings?
If you’re a teacher or a parent, what are you seeing where you are?