Do you think politics has real power in impacting education? Explain why or why not.

Explanation:

Politics is at the heart of so much that is wrong with public education. On the left, education politics is often about increasing funding while evading responsibility for results. On the right, it’s mostly about local control and unregulated school choice. Both sides pay lip service to equity, quality and student outcomes, but it’s more of an afterthought.

But if people actually voted on the issue, politics could drive change in education. What if education had the same power as the gun lobby to coerce lawmakers? What if governors and state legislators paid a political price for inadequate or inequitable funding? What if school board elections turned on classroom results rather than petty power struggles?

Homeowners, whose property values are directly tied to the quality of public education in their communities, don’t seem to care enough to vote. Parents, whose hopes and dreams for their children are tied to education, don’t come out and vote.