The "culture war"matters for public education, writes Daniel Buck. It's not a distraction, not as the National Education Association would have it, "a tiny but extremely vocal minority" promoting "vicious," hateful ideas.
Many people care "about what worldview the books in classrooms push or if their children are receiving a positive or negative view of their country," he writes. Values matter.
People are arguing about fundamental questions that will "shape not just what kind of citizens students will be, but what kind of culture and country we will have."
What books should schools include and thereby endorse on their curricula? What’s the nature of masculinity and femininity? What’s the role of parents in determining school policy and curricula? How should we frame American history?
Polls show most people "think that elementary schoolers should not learn about gender identity or sexual orientation," writes Buck. "A majority of Floridians, including a majority of Democrats, supported Gov. Ron DeSantis’s parental rights’ act."
Public schools "bring together families of every race, creed, religion, and class," Buck concludes. Conflict is inevitable. Either we argue over what to teach and how to teach, or one faction runs the schools and everyone else "bends the knee," as Daenerys Targaryen liked to say on Game of Thrones. And that didn't end well for her.