Public Schools and Democracy
Every autumn, children across Nebraska return to the classroom. It is as expected as the leaves changing colors. But we must guard against this routine resulting in complacency about our public schools.
America's public schools have been an indispensable source of our country's strength for more than a century. Our schools have enabled Americans to be active participants in the world's oldest existing democracy. They've prepared us to be productive members of the economy. And they've enabled our diverse population to live together in a free society.
From the earliest days of the republic, America's leaders have recognized the central role public education plays in educating the whole people and creating a shared American culture and cohesive society. In fact, John Adams, the second president of the United States, said "The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and must be willing to bear the expense of it."
Schools provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary for the labor force. They prepare students to be literate, informed and reasoning citizens. But the centrality of public education goes beyond even these essentials. When the United States created public schooling, we established an institution that made free education accessible to all and accountable to the people.
Only public schools must answer, through the democratic process, to the people of the communities they serve.
Only public schools are prepared to serve without reservation or qualification all students in America. No matter how many students there are; no matter what their race, ethnicity, religion or economic status; no matter what their abilities or disabilities; all are welcome in the public schools.
The United States is a unique country. We are a nation of immigrants from every continent, culture and language group of the globe. Public schools provide the cohesion that unites us as a society.
Our public schools are the ties that bind this diverse and pluralistic society into a nation. Our nation's thirty-sixth president, Lyndon B. Johnson, also believed that there is no institution more fundamental to American society and democracy than its public schools, writing, "Nothing matters more to the future of our country than education...not our military preparedness, for armed power is worthless if we lack the brain power to build a world of peace...not our economic prosperity, for growth cannot be sustained without trained people power...not our democratic system of government, for freedom is fragile if citizens are ignorant.
