Dad to school kids, husband to school teacher, professor to law students. Focused on education rights joshuaweishart.com
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To the extent parents distrust public schools, it's not because of COVID, it's because there's been an orchestrated, decades-long, right-wing attack on public education to keep it chronically underfunded, to stoke cultural wars, and to seduce frustrated parents & lawmakers w/ privatization schemes.
We've lost the soul of this nation, we restore it through education premised on relationships cultivating respect and understanding.
To the extent parents distrust public schools, it's not because of COVID, it's because there's been an orchestrated, decades-long, right-wing attack on public education to keep it chronically underfunded, to stoke cultural wars, and to seduce frustrated parents & lawmakers w/ privatization schemes.
We've lost the soul of this nation, we restore it through education premised on relationships cultivating respect and understanding.
Modern life is sandwiched between two types of absurdity, hopeful and destructive. Hopeful absurdity realizes that the universe fails to supply life its meaning (so we can give it our own meaning): destructive absurdity is bent on a universe undoing what it means to live (so as to disempower others)
Even as oppression descends, a democratic education campaign can uplift.
Modern life is sandwiched between two types of absurdity, hopeful and destructive. Hopeful absurdity realizes that the universe fails to supply life its meaning (so we can give it our own meaning): destructive absurdity is bent on a universe undoing what it means to live (so as to disempower others)
🧵 Authoritarianism, Democratization, and Coalition Politics. The consensus around here is, more or less, that the United States is currently a consolidating authoritarian regime controlled by a mix of reactionary populists and fascists.
Yes, perhaps equality provision too. To be clear, I'd expect the court to be in lockstep with Rucho re political question but that itself would put it in minority of state courts to consider it. But force state to try to defend the indefensible and expose the court as captured as well.
Challenge it under the Texas Constitution
@ivehaditpodcast.bsky.social
People will get off the mat if they think they can actually make a difference. We need to give them something more than "Call your representative!" + protest here & there. Staying in my lane, that's why I'm proposing a democratic education campaign led by blue states. Need to stop playing defense.
Trumpocracy is an all-out assault on civil society, on knowledge, on health and well being, security, prosperity, accountability, and decency.
Seconded. Also, if you are a law student or a lawyer and wants to "get off the mat", a new 501(c)(3) dedicated to hold people like Pam Bondi, Emil Bove, and Todd Blanche accountable needs your help! DM me if interested.
Challenge it under the Texas Constitution
And it's not just exhaustion, it's the cognitive dissonance of maintaining mostly normal life experiences during autocratic power grabs. It's quite disorienting and disillusioning, for the sake of one's sanity and well being we cannot be at defcon 1 every day, even if we are.
People will get off the mat if they think they can actually make a difference. We need to give them something more than "Call your representative!" + protest here & there. Staying in my lane, that's why I'm proposing a democratic education campaign led by blue states. Need to stop playing defense.
Protests are constitutionally protected, strikes are not. It is a crime to strike in some states. Both are political speech, yet one is protected (at least formally) and the other can be outlawed. Thinking about collective action in this moment and the freedoms we should demand if we survive it.
We can look away only for so long before the darkness surrounds us.
Trumpocracy is an all-out assault on civil society, on knowledge, on health and well being, security, prosperity, accountability, and decency.
Would you favor a dictator if they could "guarantee" no "crime"? More people than you think would sadly say yes. We desperately need a democratic education campaign as part of the resistance.
I'm mostly referring to corporate and wealthy elites, those who have more control over the levers of power. My suit notwithstanding, no one seriously thinks academics have any significant influence or power.
Agree we have to be pragmatic to a point, in making a deal with that devil while states are under enormous budget pressures. But legal architecture and policy frameworks that be instituted for such concessions likely ensures states will never be better positioned to forego or negotiate that funding
Thanks! I'm all for the creative exploits as well, just think the risks of backfiring are too great, and we shouldn't discount the symbolic costs of blue states endorsing a fed program we know is ultimately aimed at privatizing more schooling.
I know you weren't asking me but this Josh thinks it's a terrible idea. Those funds won't remain "flexible" and then blue states will become dependent on them. Bait and switch just like the voucher programs they are intended to promote.
Appreciate you, @dyebo.bsky.social. I'm far from the most knowledgeable or vocal but if the life of law is not logic but experience, then my firsthand experience at WVU certainly informs my higher ed law views
And it's not just a choice about a form of government but about how much freedom we will have over our lives. Beyond the freedom to be left alone to say and do what we want, are the social and material conditions to exercise real freedom, to have the capacity to live our lives to the fullest.
"Authoritarianism is here" isn't the worst of it, if the signals are for the cruelest, most oppressive forms.
Once again, the elites aren't going to save us because they generally have never known the force of law, only its privileges. So they presume, wittingly or unwittingly, that autocratic "law" will benefit them as well.
Generative AI is the antithesis of education: anti-human centered, anti-independent & critical thought, and anti-transformative and liberating (except in bad ways).
For the record, I was inspired into political philosophy by Rawls. I came to understand the limitations of his views and theorizing. But I'm not down with the clickbait title, "to throw him under the bus." We shouldn't idolize or vilify.
Generative AI is the antithesis of education: anti-human centered, anti-independent & critical thought, and anti-transformative and liberating (except in bad ways).
"Liberalism must, to rephrase a Robert Frost quip, be able to take its own side in an argument." Pluralism, yes. Neutrality, no. Must have a democratic orientation and direction. newrepublic.com/article/1992...
Even as oppression descends, a democratic education campaign can uplift.
Founders choice
We also can't seem to agree on the name, fascism v. oligarchy v. autocracy v. kleptocracy v. kakistocracy, etc. So maybe we need a new name for multiple forms of oppression and cruelty? Bonus points not for technical precision but for comprehension, a name that even a 3rd grader can understand.
We fear that if we name it, then it becomes unstoppable and irreversible. And I don't think that's true. Name it to tame it.
Democracy requires a good measure of selflessness, equal concern and respect for others. Because selfishness is so instinctive, the virtues of selflessness have to be taught and experienced. We need more than civic lessons.
I get arguments for the race to the bottom but can we save democracy by destroying it? And if we have truly lost the powers of education & persuasion, then have we already lost a democracy worth saving? Democracy is shared power, not shifted power. How to defeat without becoming the enemy? No se.
I don't think distribution of educational opportunity & outcomes exactly tracks the "actual" distribution of wealth. But the more they succeed in privatizing education, the more grossly unfair that chart will become as well. Can we approximate a fairer yet still imbalanced "ideal"? Yes. Will we?
Or cares *enough. Yes, I have the same concern, people have either given up on that issue or want what they want regardless
Surely not proposing that, I'm well aware of the burdens we unfairly place on teachers papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Part of the answer is that standardized testing crowded civics out of the curriculum. More here: scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmborj/vol29...
Yes, of course, red states too. I have my doubts given many are pursuing just the opposite but not trying to be exclusionary, just practical and start somewhere.
How about it @democracynow.org? Any suggestions?
The idea is to promote democracy not the democratic party, I just think blue states will be more receptive to that idea than red. Anyway, voting is paramount as you say but we need informed voters, thus the need for democratic education.
Of course they do! Aas, I doubt the adult leaders in those states will be on board.
Plenty of space for teacher autonomy in what I'm proposing. And a topic I know a little about. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Wonder if we can get someone famous to repost ⬇️? OR just take the idea as their own and run with it, I'm not looking for credit, just action!
Excellent, thank you
They're playing the long game with authoritarian schooling practices, censorship, and brazen attempts to indoctrinate especially in sympathetic red states. You're telling me blue states can't muster a response, make a respectable effort to even get in the game?
It's NOT too late
To put it politely
AI isn't acceptable because "most students already use it anyway." That's a dumb rationale for using and teaching it in school. Notice they never credibly say it will improve students comprehension, critical thinking, and application skills.
Partisan gerrymandering is a pox on all of our houses, anathema to democracy. State courts should rise to the occasion and declare it violates state constitutions, every state constitution, TX, CA, all of them. Alas, that is unlikely but is right response to Rucho, an egregiously wrong decision.
So, yeah, this is unconstitutional. www.cnn.com/politics/pra...
There will come a day when the truth shall matter to all of us again and then those that disregarded, distorted, and disabused us of it will be disgraced, disqualified, and disempowered by it.
Spot on!
Agreed!
I suppose that has always been true. In the context of retribution though, I would guess "lawful" has at least a better chance of aligning with norms and and moral codes than "lawless." Anyway, thanks for clarifying.
democratic lawful v. authoritarian lawful? I see those lines increasingly blurry for sure.
You may indeed be right about all that, but just so you aren't misunderstood, you are proposing lawful, not lawless, forms of retribution
class segregation included
So, yeah, this is unconstitutional. www.cnn.com/politics/pra...
Precisely as I and others predicted for my former home state. Knowing legislature, response will be more consolidations & diversion of public funds to private schools, NOT investing in public schools as needed-which they refuse to even STUDY bit.ly/2P1pLiH. www.newsandsentinel.com/news/local-n...
Despite some recent state court victories striking down school vouchers, there's a high risk those rulings can be circumvented, so I remain convinced that the best argument is that vouchers segregative effects violate state constitutional guarantees. My article on that argument here bit.ly/3hM254N
Yes, shockingly bad bsky.app/profile/josh...
We're in the throes of authoritarian power grabs but the kids still have to go to school...
The trouble with all the nihilism and fatalism on this site is not that it's wrong (it might be right!) but that it makes posting and replying so mind numbingly boring. It's lame if that's all you have to contribute. Please just let us foolishly believe in possibility and truth.
Blue states should make democracy the prevailing theme of the upcoming school year. Not just civics/social studies classes, but democracy-reinforcing lessons & experiences integrated throughout the curriculum. Boldly educate through the crisis, don't leave children in despair, teach a better way.
Can we get at least one school district to commit? Just one?? There are over 13,000. Got to start somewhere, please repost, see what's possible...
Well, if true, that's a shame. Autocracy surely is the iceberg that will doom our fate.
Reconstruction? For sure, will (should) take a long time, education is interminable demand, that project is without end. My admittedly unpopular opinion is that it won't take decades to repair harms of this administration. I wasn't saying we can solve all societal ills, just address direct harms.
Doing what exactly?
Agreed and it's long since been eviscerated for K12 educators.
The trouble with all the nihilism and fatalism on this site is not that it's wrong (it might be right!) but that it makes posting and replying so mind numbingly boring. It's lame if that's all you have to contribute. Please just let us foolishly believe in possibility and truth.
Got it!
My dude, why are you trolling me? You don't like my ideas, called them "horrible." I shared a full length article in response which I don't blame you for not reading but that's hardly me being dismissive. We disagree, let's go our separate ways in the big blue sky.
Yes, and nihilistic replies to lawprofs/lawyers trying to educate on this platform disempowers us by disincentivizing posts that we could otherwise use as a basis for shared understanding & solidarity. We know “it’s unlawful” isn’t a solution, but it's critical for public awareness & reaction.
Ok, guess we don't share common ground except maybe the belief that current system isn't humanistic enough. Thanks at least for engaging.
We can repair self-inflicted harms without needing to solve all societal ills at once. Any such educational revolution needs to support both short-term and long-term objectives.
Fair enough, though the type of democratic education I'd personally envision would be more humane (following Dewey) than the current half-baked approach. scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmborj/vol29...
Too much of our time and attention is consumed with what THEY CAN'T DO (but do anyway) and not enough on what WE CAN DO (but don't anyway).
Agreed
Can we get at least one school district to commit? Just one?? There are over 13,000. Got to start somewhere, please repost, see what's possible...
Unpopular opinion: I don't think it will take decades to repair the harm of this administration. But I do think successful reconstruction ultimately depends on whether we undertake a comprehensive, revolutionary project of democratic education K-12 & beyond. scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmborj/vol29...
Unpopular opinion: I don't think it will take decades to repair the harm of this administration. But I do think successful reconstruction ultimately depends on whether we undertake a comprehensive, revolutionary project of democratic education K-12 & beyond. scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmborj/vol29...
Thank you!
Just think of all the schools we could shut down if only we had a few more billionaires willing to dabble in education reform.
Preparing children to defend democracy > preparing them for college in an autocracy
Ok, I don't
history doesn't have a "vision," it keeps a record
Just think of all the schools we could shut down if only we had a few more billionaires willing to dabble in education reform.
Preparing children to defend democracy > preparing them for college in an autocracy
Blue states should make democracy the prevailing theme of the upcoming school year. Not just civics/social studies classes, but democracy-reinforcing lessons & experiences integrated throughout the curriculum. Boldly educate through the crisis, don't leave children in despair, teach a better way.
Courage is contagious, if spread to a critical mass, it can annihilate fascism.
There's no bargaining with fascism, it dictates the conditions of your life. That's the point.
I'll never understand the Faustian bargain that some elites have made to trade their souls & power for the slightest assurance of wealth & status preservation-- subject to the whims and delusions of autocrats.
Blue state governments must exert their authority more to stem the tide of autocracy. Much can be done, for example, in the education space.