REPUBLICANS HAVE begun saying things about American schools that not long ago would have struck them as peculiar, even insane. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has called schools "a cesspool of Marxist indoctrination." Former secretary of State Mike Pompeo predicts that "teachers' unions, and the filth that they're teaching our kids," will "take this republic down." Against the backdrop of his party, Donald Trump, complaining about "pink-haired communists teaching our kids" and "Marxist maniacs and lunatics" running our universities, sounds practically calm.
More ominously, at every level of government, Republicans have begun to act on these beliefs. Over the past three years, legislators in 28 states have passed at least 71 bills controlling what teachers and students can say and do at school. A wave of library purges, subject-matter restrictions, and potential legal threats against educators has followed.
Education has become an obsession on the political right, which now sees it as the central battlefield upon which this country's future will be settled. Schoolhouses are being conscripted into a cataclysmic war in which no compromise is possible-in which a child in a red state will be discouraged from asking questions about sexual identity, or a professor will be barred from exploring the ways in which white supremacy has shaped America today, or a trans athlete will be prohibited from playing sports.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT MICROPLASTICS
They're in our blood, our livers, and our brains. They're in newborns and the elderly, urban and rural, rich and poor. What are all these plastics doing to our bodies?
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Six actors before opening night.
The Log Cabin No One Wanted
Jake Szymanski grew up in a Colorado log house. He thought he'd never want to live in one again.
When Westerners Go East
Like his characters, Mike White's series cannot seem to shed its core identity or biases.
All Bark, No Bite
Idina Menzel grieves in a tree.
Closers Only
Bob Odenkirk, Kieran Culkin, and Bill Burr battle for the top of the Glengarry Glen Ross leaderboard.
Noticing: Emilia Petrarca | Can I Boom Boom?
Falling for, and fretting over, the gilded and greedy new aesthetic.
TRUMP'S PURGE OF WASHINGTON FIVE WEEKS OF CHAOS, IN FOUR PARTS
ON JANUARY 30, Kash Patel, the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, went to Capitol Hill to attend to the formality of his Senate confirmation hearing.
Lululemon and Coconut Cake
Cafe Commerce offers easy uptown glamour, day or night.
Lisa Yuskavage Becomes the Protagonist
After 35 years of painting her signature girls, the artist has decided to turn to a new subject: herself.
