@joy Indeed, you understood precisely my observation. Low property tax states, like Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi etc have less tax revenue, and thus, budget constraints and other priorities. I may be mistaken, but I doubt a large swath of our citizens, whether in 6th grade or age 60 could clearly state a true understanding of Autocracy, Oligarchy, Dictatorship, Kleptocracy, or Socialism vs Communism. And it is also true that as the gap widens between the "haves" and the "have-nots", it is inevitable that at some point people will reach their "Point of Critical Unworkability" and create change, or we shall become a nation of slave workers/consumers to the benefit of the rich. The majority of the population seems to be quite passive for now.
@classictravelr Thank you very much for your reply. This is indeed different between the US and Germany. No normal healthy kid here would be allowed not to learn about history at all or only for two semesters... because, yes, we need to understand why things are the way they are. I did not realize before that the fact of regular history classes at school here might be because of our very special history. Yes, things back then after WWII.... School kids were starving and got only one soup a day and they got it at school, and this soup was funded by you, the US citizens.... We won't forget that you helped them survive this. Homework was to bring a brick or something for a fire to have some heat at school or to build up again the building. Kids needed to walk 1 to 2 hours to school because schools were not near, many of them were fully destroyed. Classes were huge, 60 kids for one teacher. But all these kids were so very much happy to get the chance to learn instead of fighting in a cruel war. Since then, good and broad education for everyone is held up very high. It is seen like a basic human right.
I like the idea of viewing the present day situation in the U.S.A. as the culmination of 533 years of history, beginning with the European invasion of the Americas in 1492. Perhaps we could better understand how we got to this situation and where we might go from here.
For High School in Arizona, you must have a year of World History, a year of American History, a semester of Government/ Arizona history and a semester of Economics.
These may be switched out for AP equivalent classes.
I don't know how requirements change from state to state.
The thing is, when I was required to take my year long American and World history classes in high school back in the early 1980's, there was a lot less history to learn in the same amount of time as now. When my mom was in high school, WW2 had ended 10 years before she graduated and there wasn't a Korean War yet.
Since I graduated, we have had 4 additional decades worth of History which means more wars, elections, world leaders, policies, laws so forth. Since my mom it has graduated it been 7 decades. Unfortunately, we haven't allowed any more time to teach it.
@lovendures Thank you very much for your reply. I think that enough time for history classes at school is one of the basics to educate the kids to grow up to be citizens feeling responsible to keep democracy as a treasure of the society they live in. My father was a young teenager during the Nazi German time phase and afterwards, all his life he held up high the position that democracy is the highest good and the most worthy treasure for a society he really would want to live in.
@Joy Education isn’t the root cause of America’s authoritarian slide. States like MA, NY, and across New England have standards similar to Arizona. The real issue goes much deeper.
What we’re witnessing now is the result of over 500 years of wealth accumulation through exploitation — beginning with colonization in 1492. The U.S. was built on stolen indigenous land, slavery, and the systemic oppression of marginalized people: women, LGBTQ+ communities, and workers.
Yes, there are exceptions — but many of the most moneyed got there by stepping on others.
Even in progressive spaces, people idolize the ultra-wealthy. Hollywood glorifies them. Few ask: How was that fortune made? People celebrate wealth as achievement, rather than questioning the systems that enabled it.
As Howard Zinn wrote in A People’s History of the United States, exploitation didn’t stop at our borders. In the 20th century, the U.S. overthrew governments in at least 13 countries to secure resources and wealth.
Then in the 1980s, Reagan unleashed a new era of deregulation, corporate power, and right-wing media. The Tea Party? Funded and engineered. The backlash to progress? Always organized and well-financed.
What we’re up against now isn’t just ignorance — it’s propaganda.
Many Americans do know history. We fought fascism in WWII. But now, the very same tactics — disinformation, voter suppression, demonizing the “other” — are becoming normalized here at home.
This isn’t a rant. It’s a call to clarity. So I pray this post won't unleash rants, which waste people's energy and depress others who come here.
The crisis we’re facing isn’t just about education. It’s about power, wealth, and control of the narrative.
If people here are feeling overwhelmed, don’t get stuck in doom. Threads like The Path Forward and Lighthouses offer ways to stay grounded and active.
@jeanne-mayell That was an inspired summary. Thank you for articulating it so well.
@joy I’ve seen this article before and it’s definitely worth looking at. I will however, also provide some counterpoint as someone who has spent 2.5 decades in Education:
Education is decentralized so each state is left to their own devices. While there was the movement in the early 2000s and 2010s to provide some basic standards at the federal level, it was treated as executive overreach and now remains largely hidden under the guise of individual state standards. Each state sort of did their own things with them. I would say now if the administration said “Here are the new standards” there’d be far less pushback from the group that pushed back against it the first time, and far more pushback from the groups that supported or were ambivalent to the national standards movement.
My point being - it’s hard to place blame at the feet of our education system when it’s providing the exact outcomes the systems were designed to provide (good, bad, and ugly) - I officiated a wedding yesterday and when signing the marriage licenses, one of the witnesses, an elderly woman lamented the bride being unable to sign her new last name in cursive. As she clutched her pearls yelling “Don’t they teach this in schools anymore?” The bride replied “no” to which the woman again screamed “F***ing Democrats.” It has nothing to do with Democrats, Republicans, or anything else, and everything to do with how the systems are currently built state by state. Teaching cursive comes at the cost of 10 other things all deemed important and one person’s holy crusade is another’s “Meh, they’ll figure it out.”
Public education is enshrined in most state constitutions as a basic right provided to everyone. The standards and things that are taught in state classrooms are a product of local and state governments. I helped write our 2019 draft state standards for social studies - a six-year process that went through a ton of revisions, support, pushback, etc. In the end we ended up with a great draft in spite of what we were up against. I would encourage you to look at your state department of education’s website and look for opportunities to volunteer in projects, feedback, review, etc - there’s always a call for something.
Religious schools exist, yes, but get enough attention that they often seem like they’re more of an impact than they actually are. - I have several friends in the Oklahoma school systems. Lots of “pocket resistance” and the kids and communities largely allow it, despite also electing certain leaders. If I learned anything in my multiple master’s degrees in leadership, it’s that everyone views “schools as bad” but they don’t usually mean “THEIR” schools.
Charters exist and are no more or less successful than their public-school counterparts. But by and large, schools and teachers aren’t lying down to the threats around them - they just can’t be as vocal in opposing them as the opposition is an attacking the systems they operate under.
People can get involved in the many opportunities that exist for them to get involved and help - but steer clear of placing blame for where we’re currently at the feet of educators and schools. (I don’t think you were, but my knee jerk reaction is always to protect the schools. 25 years in these systems have made that a natural reflex) Most of them are doing their best in the same situations we all are to do what they know is right. And take heed in knowing that the systems the article you referenced are not as prolific as even the Guardian would have you believe.
"Yes, there are exceptions — but many of the most moneyed got there by stepping on others.
Even in progressive spaces, people idolize the ultra-wealthy. Hollywood glorifies them. Few ask: How was that fortune made? People celebrate wealth as achievement, rather than questioning the systems that enabled it".
yes. this needs to change.
As a young student in Iowa, and then in Wisconsin (late 50's, early 60's) the Iowa students seemed to have more in-depth education, as did my cousins in Minnesota, compared to Milwaukee. Later, much much later, my education quality in Wisconsin was far wider and deeper than where I moved to in California. I attribute much of that to the diverse population, where the property tax funding was cut back through Proposition 13, as they tried to stop the runaway property tax hikes, AND the fact that there are so many languages spoken in CA due to the ethnic diversity, and the fact that the state is trying to funnel all students through a process of learning, requiring additional resources for getting the message through in multiple languages and/or ESL costs. Even just the basics. Example: we had a restaurant, the power was out due to street work, and the waitresses were unable to count change back without the cash register telling what to give back. My grands in Wisconsin were shocked at that and laughed out loud. I'd say education results in the US is uneven.