Welcome to the Late Stage Capitalism Era of Public Education

(Spoiler alert: It's not great)

What it do, Secular Fam!? I hope this Substack finds you doing better than hanging on by an existential thread (since, generally speaking, that’s my norm these days). As most of you probably already know, there was a meeting in Paradise Valley (PVUSD) last week, where the board discussed four potential school closures, and I’m just now getting around to watching that meeting. 

So you know what that means! Buckle up, Buttercup, because we’re going to discuss the Late Stage Capitalism Era of Public Education!

For those of you following along, vouchers (AKA Education Savings Accounts or ESAs) are absolute garbage, and despite the voters resoundingly saying fuck no to a universal voucher expansion back in 2018, the 2022 legislative session produced an unbridled universal voucher expansion bill, and then-Governor Doug Ducey signed it into law.

For those of you NOT following along, first, what are you even doing with your life, and second, this is really bad.

Like, “bankrupt the state of Arizona” bad. Not only is it a truly glaring example of how the party that used to claim that they were fiscally responsible totally is NOT, it’s also a HUGE blow to the First Amendment and the separation of religion and government.

Vouchers used to be reserved for limited groups (kids with special needs, children of public servants, kids in failing schools, etc.). Now, ANYONE can access these vouchers, and as advocacy groups like Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSAZ) point out in their recent comprehensive report, most of the people who are using them were never sending their kids to public schools in the first place.

So what this means is that these vouchers (I refuse to call them ESAs) are welfare for the wealthy. They’re also welfare for religious organizations and homeschoolers that face no accountability measures and can legally discriminate against, well…anyone they want.

Additionally, many of these indoctrination centers private religious schools have recently increased their tuition fees because NONE OF THIS WAS EVER ABOUT POOR KIDS AND FAMILIES. 

Last week’s PVUSD meeting was just the canary in the coal mine about the devastating effects of Arizona’s nearly 30-year history of privatizing our public schools. And again, you should really read that SOSAZ report from beginning to end because it’s so comprehensive. Basically, what we’re doing in Arizona looks a little like this: 

PVUSD has had its own share of budgetary problems this past school year, so it’s not like everything has been sunshine and roses. But this is a district that has a strong reputation for academic excellence, and it serves families in some of the wealthiest zip codes in our state and in our nation.

And this is where we get to the voucher grift and the reason why PVUSD is facing closing four schools. According to SOSAZ, “61% of ESA funding is going to 10% of school districts concentrated in wealthy, suburban areas.”

This brings us to the Dec 7, 2023 PVUSD meeting where a superintendent committee presented their proposal to close four schools in PVUSD. And Secular Fam, it was heartbreaking.

As a former school board member, I was lucky enough to never have to vote to close a school. I can’t even imagine how it felt to sit and hear the parents, teachers, and students essentially begging the board to save their schools. As a viewer, I was gutted.

You know, normally I go into great detail about the extremists and uninformed people that show up at these meetings, but there will be very little of that. Sure, Board Member Christensen once again showed her ignorance about committee work and open meeting law. Of course, the weird lady who is obsessed with pornography showed up again and shared with everyone how much she thinks about pornography and children..

And yeah, some lady wanted to talk about reporting sexual misconduct of teachers. And on that point, lady, I agree with you. Anyone who has undergone a formal investigation AND been found guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor should be criminally charged.

Well, I guess unless they confess their crimes to a member of the clergy. But I digress. 

As you can imagine, in my work, I am focused on religious extremism on the regular. Recently, I watched a docuseries called Let Us Prey all about the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) Cult Church and the absolutely RAMPANT sexual, physical, psychological, and spiritual abuse that far too many of its members have suffered over the years.

In this church, only men are allowed in positions of power, and women must be subservient to them in every way. Basically, the church preaches purity culture to its members and purity culture essentially says that women are to be sexually pure, go to super-weird Purity Balls with their fathers, and that if they are ever on the receiving end of unwanted sexual attention or even violence, it’s all their fault.

Purity culture also deems that men are inherently unable to control their sexual desires, and fosters a culture of misogyny and toxic masculinity as well. Oh, and another thing that IFB leaders promote is that a parent is always right even when they’re wrong.

The reason I bring this up now, while sharing my observations about the PVUSD meeting is because many of these people who are speaking at these meetings or running for their local school board are also fundamentalists who believe in purity culture and everything that goes along with it. They demand accountability and even promote the denial of due process at their public schools.

But many of these same people seem to have no problem with the fact that private schools, microschools, and homeschoolers have ZERO accountability for things like test scores, curriculum approvals, or background checks for the adults in charge of the children. 

I can’t help but think the pArEnTaL rIgHtS crowd is so loud because they don’t even see children as individual human beings that deserve love and respect and whose voices should be heard and valued. Many of these evangelical extremists see their children as extensions of themselves, meant to be controlled and silenced. 

I mean, some of the things they’re demanding include: getting rid of social workers in schools,  putting more cops in schools, removing or blocking medically-accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education (CSE) in schools, banning books, and adopting whitewashed history curriculum. 

Let’s break these down. 

• Social workers help identify children who are struggling, and try to get them and their families the help they need. They’re also mandated reporters who are skilled at identifying and assisting children who may be suffering from abuse, neglect, mental health issues, etc.

• Police in schools are related to a higher rate of suspensions and expulsions, specifically children of color, and contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline.

• CSE actually keeps kids safer and gives them the vocabulary and tools they need to identify healthy relationships and to speak out if someone is abusing them.

• Accurate history and diverse literature make all of us more empathetic and help our most marginalized students see themselves in the books they read and the curriculum they study.

So why do these “Christians” want a world where children are less safe? 

I have a theory…

So here we find ourselves, secular advocates. Less than a year away from the 2024 election, and some of these districts are in grave danger that their boards will be taken over by people who want to destroy our public schools from within. These are often the same people who are AOK with the fact that private schools and microschools can do anything they want behind closed doors and without any accountability. 

You know what that means: Volunteer, become a member, support a candidate, or run for office. And if you haven’t already, upgrade to a paid Substack subscription.