When the Trump administration talks about the future of education, it tells on itself. Beneath the language of “innovation” and “fostering the future together” is a clear agenda: weaken public education, turn it into a revenue stream for billionaires, and create a docile generation unlikely to challenge its blatant authoritarianism. That agenda is evident in every move it makes, from promoting private-school voucher schemes, to whitewashing history, to dismantling the Department of Education. To this administration, education is both a threat and a market opportunity.
In a recent tactical blunder, the first lady’s farcical rollout of a teacher robot made unusually clear what this administration really thinks of children, teachers and schools. But what it revealed most was a profound lack of humanity.
