Discussion Topic of the Week: Education

We plan to discuss the pitfalls of the United State’s public education system.

Topics to be covered:

1. public education, pre-school to high school —- including discussion of government funding and the recent push for charter schools (I think the charter school issue is definitely something we should address, since it’s so central to current educational policy)
-What are the historical roots of unequal educational access?
-What role does current policy play?

2. public higher education, focusing on New York state — including Cuomo’s recent budget proposal
-Plans to further privatize SUNY/CUNY
-Ongoing efforts to defend public ed. [RSU folks, could you help out here?]

3. militarization of schools and colleges, and the ways that working-class youth and youth of color are funneled into the military due to lack of options

4. the “school-to-prison pipeline” affecting (mainly) blacks and Latinos — How does it function, and how do we fight it?