Neglecting Public Education Is a Risk to Democracy, Opportunity, and Economic Growth, Say 70 Education Leaders and Philanthropists
Click on the Forbes.com homepage or scan your news alerts, and you will be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed by the dozens of crises and the “five separate dooms promised this decade alone,” to crib from James Stafford’s poem “This Spring.” It’s hard to know what the right next step is.
Today, more than 70 education leaders across the political spectrum came together with an answer. Speaking in a unified voice, itself a distinction in this time of increasing polarization, former Secretaries of Education Arne Duncan and John King and heads of major education philanthropies and nonprofits. They called on fellow education colleagues, philanthropists, and advocates to “step up and recommit to education as the cornerstone of social mobility, economic opportunity, and inclusive democracy.” Titled “A Dream Worth Pursuing: Recommitting to Education,” the letter invites action. Asking colleagues to “invest more in bold ideas, innovative solutions, and collective action that can pave the way to a more hopeful and prosperous future for all.” [Full disclosure: I am one of the signers.] Acknowledging that education is not a panacea for the country’s challenges, the signers nevertheless noted consistent data that “education is still the best and most reliable engine for economic and social mobility.” And implored fellow philanthropists and social impact leaders not to disinvest from the “very engine that we need to restore our progress and address . . . new challenges.” Noting that the share of philanthropic funding going to education has decreased from 2015 to 2022.
I spoke to nine of the signers to understand why the letter felt important now and why, amidst myriad competing needs, they continue to believe that education is the cornerstone of change. Four big insights emerged.
Read the full article here.
