Public School Atheists

I belong to one of those protestant churches where a bishop assigns and moves preachers around based on, well, whatever it is based on.  So, I imagine the possibility of a bishop appointing a preacher to my church who is secretly an atheist.  Wouldn’t that be interesting?  A person who does not believe and who is positioned in opposition to the church is now leading the church!  What chaos might ensue?  From the pulpit each week we hear about how the world would be better off if there were no religions, we hear how science and reason are in a direct conflict with religious belief, and we hear how the belief in an imaginary man in a magic kingdom is absolute nonsense that lacks any evidence of reality.  I suspect the congregation would shrink in size, or complain a lot, or may even demand another preacher.  But the important thing is it makes no sense to ordain a non-believer as the leader of a belief system.

It feels no differently to me to observe current leaders in the education community in Texas.  Those of us who believe in public education find ourselves managed (in good conscience I cannot say “led”) by public school atheists.  These are people who do not believe in public schools and who do not believe public schools can be successful.  They have given up on the public school model and instead support a model that both competes with public schools and siphons off public school funding.  They are called school reformers.  But I think of them as atheists, as non-believers, and as doubters.

They believe that somehow a new charter school better serves students than a public school despite the evidence that they do not.  Regardless, they deeply believe that entrepreneurs should be able to get rich off the public money ear marked for kids.  They believe that more standardized testing and more rigorous testing somehow improves student performance when the evidence is that such testing may improve the students’ ability to take the test and score well, it in no ways improves learning, knowledge and understanding.  Regardless, they deeply believe that entrepreneurs who develop tests should be able to get rich off the public money ear marked for kids.  They believe that billionaires who know little to nothing about education should direct our educational processes when the evidence is that when they do so they create more chaos than learning.  Regardless, they believe that making money in the private sector somehow bestows wisdom in all other domains.  If these folks believed in public schools they would never support or consider allowing wealthy parents to take state money to pay for their child’s private education.  That process is called “vouchers” and has not worked anywhere.  Regardless, they believe that the wealthy should reap certain benefits not available to the poor even if the poof suffer more because of the benefit to the wealthy.  School reformers are public school atheists.

Public school folks, those of us who deeply believe that we have a duty to educate all children, recognize that we are providing a service to kids aged 6 to 18 (sometimes 21 or 25) that is critical to the survival of our democracy.  We know we are employees of the largest socialized system in the country.  We will provide the best we know to each and every child who walks through our doors regardless of their wealth, their race, their gender, their religious beliefs, and/or their sexual preference.  We have a mission that does not include generating wealth for entrepreneurs.  We have a mission that does not include creating competitors and test-takers more than learners and leaders.  We stand in philosophical opposition to school reformers.

So, who are the public school atheists in Texas?  Governor Abbot is one.  Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is one.  The governor’s appointed Commissioner of Education Mike Morath is one.  The governor’s appointed Chair of the State Board of Education Donna Bahorich is one.  In other words, people who do not believe in public schools are now the appointed leaders of public education in Texas.  They keep it hidden, they hide behind jargon like school reformer, charter school supporter, more teacher accountability, more rigorous standards, etc., etc.  But each one of those initiatives is anti-public schools.  Over 5 million kids go to public schools.  Imagine learning that 5 million kids are being schooled each Sunday in church by an atheist?  The fact that public schools are being led by people who do not believe in public schools should scare you to death. 

I think they should come out of the closet, then resign.  I think everyone who thinks like they do whether it is a superintendent or a school board member should come out of the closet and resign.

We need a Governor, a Lt. Governor, a commissioner and a state board that supports public education.  People in such leader positions should be arguing for smaller class sizes which we know makes a positive difference for kids.  They should be arguing for higher teacher salaries and more respect of teachers which we know makes a difference.  They should be arguing for teachers to take their rightful place in the professional ranks and resist non-educators from attempting to script educator performance.  They should be arguing that students must learn critical thinking skills and problem solving skills which includes learning every side of a given issue and not just the side the atheist supports.  They should be promoting textbooks and lessons that encourage students to approach issues from both sides.  They should vehemently resist any strategy that reduces funding for the public schools and allows private sector entrepreneurs to grow rich.

None of our current ilk are likely to fight for public education.  They have all taken stands that will harm public education.  They will not come out and tell you they oppose public education, but that is how they act.  They will not confess they are public school atheists, but they are.  It is time we call them what they are.

And they should not be running our schools.