![\"\"](\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/publicschooling.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
While the\u00a0White House\u2019s fight with elite universities<\/a>\u00a0such as\u00a0Columbia and Harvard<\/a>\u00a0has recently dominated the headlines, the feud overshadows the broader and\u00a0more far-reaching assault<\/a>\u00a0on K-12 public education by the Trump administration and many states.<\/p>\n The Trump administration\u00a0has gutted the Department of Education<\/a>, imperiling efforts to\u00a0protect students\u2019 civil rights<\/a>, and\u00a0proposed billions in public education cuts<\/a>\u00a0for fiscal year 2026. Meanwhile, the administration is\u00a0diverting billions of taxpayer funds into K-12 private schools<\/a>. These moves build upon similar efforts by conservative states\u00a0to rein in public education<\/a>\u00a0going back decades<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the consequences of withdrawing from public education could be dire for the U.S. In our 2024 book, \u201cHow Government Built America<\/a>,\u201d we explore the history of public education, from\u00a0Horace Mann\u2019s \u201ccommon school movement<\/a>\u201d in the early 19th century to the\u00a0GI Bill<\/a>\u00a0in the 20th that helped millions of veterans go to college and become homeowners after World War II.<\/p>\n We found that public education has been essential for not only creating an educated workforce but for inculcating the United States\u2019 fundamental values of liberty, equality, fairness and the common good.<\/p>\n Opponents of public education often refer to public schools\u00a0as \u201cgovernment schools<\/a>,\u201d a pejorative that seems intended to associate public education with \u201cbig government\u201d \u2013 seemingly at odds with the\u00a0small government preference<\/a>\u00a0of many Americans.<\/p>\n But, as\u00a0we have previously explored<\/a>, government has always been a significant partner with the private market system in achieving the country\u2019s fundamental political values. Public education has been an important part of that partnership.<\/p>\n Education is what\u00a0economists call a public good<\/a>, which means it not only benefits students but the country as well.<\/p>\n Mann, an\u00a0education reformer often dubbed<\/a>\u00a0the father of the American public school system, argued that universal, publicly funded, nonsectarian public schools would\u00a0help sustain American political institutions<\/a>, expand the economy and fend off social disorder.<\/p>\n In researching Mann\u2019s common schools and other educational history for our book, two lessons stood out to us.<\/p>\n One is that the U.S. investment in public education over the past 150 years has created a well-educated workforce that has fueled innovation and unparalleled prosperity.<\/p>\n As\u00a0our book documents<\/a>, for example, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the states expanded public education to include high school to meet the increasing demand for a more educated citizenry as a result of the Industrial Revolution. And the GI Bill\u00a0made it possible<\/a>\u00a0for returning veterans to earn college degrees or train for vocations, support young families and buy homes, farms or businesses, and it encouraged them to become more engaged citizens, making \u201cU.S. democracy more vibrant in the middle of the twentieth century.\u201d<\/p>\n The other, equally significant lesson is that the democratic and republican principals that propelled Mann\u2019s vision of the common school\u00a0have colored many Americans\u2019 assumptions about public schooling ever since<\/a>. Mann\u2019s goal was a \u201cvirtuous republican citizenry<\/a>\u201d \u2013 that is, a citizenry educated in \u201cgood citizenship, democratic participation and societal well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n Mann believed\u00a0there was nothing more important<\/a>\u00a0than \u201cthe proper training of the rising generation,\u201d calling it the country\u2019s \u201chighest earthly duty.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, Mann\u2019s vision and all that\u2019s been accomplished by public education is under threat.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s second term has supercharged efforts by conservatives over the past 75 years\u00a0to control what is taught in the public schools<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0to replace public education with private schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n Most notably, Trump has begun dismantling the Department of Education to\u00a0devolve more policymaking to the state level<\/a>. The\u00a0department is responsible for<\/a>, among other things, distributing federal funds to public schools, protecting students\u2019 civil rights and supporting high-quality educational research. It has also been responsible for\u00a0managing over a trillion dollars in student loans<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a function that the administration\u00a0is moving to the Small Business Administration<\/a>, which has no experience in loan management.<\/p>\n The president\u2019s\u00a0March 2025 executive order<\/a>\u00a0has slashed the department\u2019s staff in half, with especially\u00a0deep cuts to the Office for Civil Rights<\/a>, which, as noted,\u00a0protects student from illegal discrimination<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s efforts to\u00a0slash education funding<\/a>\u00a0has so far\u00a0hit roadblocks<\/a>\u00a0with Congress and the public. The administration\u00a0is aiming to cut education funding by US$12 billion<\/a>\u00a0for fiscal year 2026, which Congress is currently negotiating.<\/p>\n And contradicting its stance on ceding more control to states and local communities, the administration\u00a0has also been mandating<\/a>\u00a0what can\u2019t and must be taught in public schools. For example, it\u2019s\u00a0threatened funding<\/a>\u00a0for school districts that recognize transgender identities or teach about structural racism, white privilege and similar concepts. On the other hand, the White House is\u00a0pushing the use of \u201cpatriotic\u201d education<\/a>\u00a0that depicts the founding of the U.S. as \u201cunifying, inspiring and ennobling.\u201d<\/p>\n As Trump and states have cut funding and resources to public education, they\u2019ve been shifting more money to K-12 private schools.<\/p>\n Most recently, the budget bill passed by Congress in July 2025\u00a0gives taxpayers a tax credit for donations<\/a>\u00a0to organizations that fund private school scholarships. The credit, which unlike a deduction counts directly against how much tax someone owes, is $1,700 for individuals and double for married couples. The total cost could run into the billions, since it\u2019s unclear how many taxpayers will take advantage.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, 33 states\u00a0direct public money<\/a>\u00a0toward private schools by providing vouchers, tax credits or another form of financial assistance to parents. All together, states\u00a0allocated $8.2 billion<\/a>\u00a0to support private school education in 2024.<\/p>\n Government funding of private schools diverts money away from public education and makes it\u00a0more difficult for public schools<\/a>\u00a0to provide the quality of education that would most benefit students and the public at large. In Arizona, for example,\u00a0many public schools are closing<\/a>\u00a0their doors permanently as a result of the state\u2019s support for charter schools, homeschooling and private school vouchers.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because public schools are funded based on how many students they have. As more students switch to private schools, there\u2019s less money to cover teacher salaries and fixed costs such as building maintenance. Ultimately, that means fewer resources to educate the students who remain in the public school system.<\/p>\n We believe the harm to the country of promoting private schools while rolling back support for public education is about more than dollars and cents.<\/p>\n It would mean abandoning the principle of universal, nonsectarian education for America\u2019s children. And in so doing, Mann\u2019s \u201cvirtuous citizenry\u201d will be much harder to build and maintain.<\/p>\n America\u2019s private market system, in which individuals are free to contract with each other with minimal government interference,\u00a0has been important to building prosperity<\/a>\u00a0and opportunity in the U.S., as our book documents. But, as we also establish, relying on private markets to educate America\u2019s youth makes it harder to create equal opportunity for children to learn and be economically successful, leaving the country less prosperous and more divided.<\/p>\nIn the public good<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Attacking public education<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Promoting private education<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Living up to aspirations<\/strong><\/h4>\n