In a long overdue counterattack against “progressive” thought control in our colleges and universities, some schools have established programs for civic education. A good and essential step.
But as Daniel Buck argues in today’s Martin Center article, the challenge ahead is to preserve them.
He writes:
At present, there are no fewer than 45 centers at 41 institutions in 25 states. The question facing the movement now isn’t how reformers should establish such institutes or why — but rather, how can they sustain the movement.
The lefties see these programs as intrusions into their domain and would love to see them obliterated.
Buck sees parallels between the college civics programs and K–12 schools that offer a classical education. He continues:
Regarding new K–12, classical schools, no matter how nice they play or how non-partisan their materials read, local media will inevitably label them with a predictable list of epithets: Trump-aligned, white-supremacist, or whatever the accusation of the day is. If founding leaders wilt in the face of such criticism, the institution eventually dies by a thousand compromises and retreats. However, if the principals hire quality teachers and execute on the educational mission, enrollment grows while critics shout into the wind. The qualifications for a quality university professor or kindergarten teacher differ, but the general principles are the same.”
Much of our education system is badly infected with leftist zealots who seek to use classrooms to indoctrinate young people. Our future depends on building schools and colleges that will teach students actual subjects and instill in them the values of a free society.