Why public education matters to American democracy

By Ananya Roy

March 4 was a national day of action to defend public education.

In California, elementary school children participated in symbolic fire drills to mark a state of emergency. High school students carried coffins for classes that have been cut. College students marched in the thousands. I joined students and faculty at an “Educate the State” rally at the state Capitol building, We unfurled a scroll that listed California legislators who have graduated from public universities.

March 4 was a moment of hope. It transformed the fear and pain of budget cuts and fee hikes into a national network of student and faculty action. Indeed, the crisis of public education is everywhere. At stake in this crisis are the resilience of our economy and the vitality of our democracy.

We live in a time of unprecedented wealth and income inequality. Economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty have shown that the top 1 percent of American households today holds a larger share of income than at any time since 1928. The “financial Katrina” that swept through the country only compounded this inequality. Wall Street was bailed out while Main Street fended for itself. Robert Reich has called this “socialized capitalism,” where profits are enjoyed by the wealthy few but losses are borne by the rest.

Public education mitigates such disadvantage and democratizes opportunity.

This is not to say that opportunity always has been available to all. But today, the struggle to gain access to good and affordable education has become everyone's struggle. The anchors of what once defined America's middle-class - home-ownership, stable jobs, public education and opportunity - are quickly eroding.

Is it possible to keep funding public education? America cannot afford to do otherwise. The crisis of public education is not a story of resource poverty; it is that of priorities. By spending more on its prisons than public education, California has chosen a policy of mass incarceration. California is an oil-rich state that has chosen not to tax the extraction of oil.

If America is to retain its competitiveness in a global economy, billions also have to be invested in human capital.

Equally important is the future of our democracy. Here it is worth emphasizing the word “education” in the phrase “public education.” Education, as a recent statement by concerned University of Iowa faculty eloquently argues, is about educating “citizens who live in a democracy.”

In reducing public universities to virtual learning franchises and low-cost retail outlets, we run the risk of destroying the foundations of an educated American polity. It would be a shame if “education” were only available in private universities, domain of the elite, rather than the lively terrain of democratic action for and by all.

No democracy can thrive without the democratization of opportunity. This is why public education matters.

Ananya Roy is professor of city and regional planning, University of California/Berkeley. Comments: ananya@

berkeley.edu