The pandemic-related chaos of the last two years exposed a decadeslong scandal in American education: Bureaucrats from the education establishment have failed those communities they claim to serve. When students were forced to remain home during the COVID-19 lockdowns and online instruction was streamed into their homes, many parents — who send their children to school to learn math, history, literature, science, art and more — were understandably aghast by what they heard and saw. They witnessed weak, content-free instruction. Last year, parents unenrolled their children from traditional public schools in record numbers — marking the largest decline in a century.
Most Americans know by now that K-12 teachers are underpaid, overworked and underappreciated, but few acknowledge the fact that they are also overregulated. Even now, teachers are hamstrung by rigid, top-down mandates from government administrators and policymakers far removed from local schools and communities. This omnipresent oversight from bloated, multilevel educational bureaucracies, along with an unhealthy and oppressive overemphasis on testing, has made the central work of teachers — educating students — nearly impossible. No wonder many educators are leaving the profession in what amounts to a crippling exodus, robbing many students of the excellent teachers they deserve.
Many within the education establishment deflect criticism of their radical agenda by using students and teachers as shields. They claim to be acting on behalf of schools, but don’t be fooled: Their highest priority is protecting their own positions of power and influence as they push the newest, half-baked educational fads alongside ideological agendas. The education establishment does many things poorly. But what it is very good at is protecting itself.
