“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953
There is much to critique about Eisenhower’s presidency, but his warning of the growing military-industrial complex and his claim that exorbitant military spending steals from human needs have certainly proven true.
Our education system has been underfunded and struggling for far too long. Part of the issue is that over 40% of our public schools are funded through local property taxes. Considering our dark history of segregation, it’s not difficult to imagine how this model creates inequity and perpetuates poverty. Furthermore, our states fund private schools, at the expense of public schools. If you dislike your local police, does the state give you money to hire a private security force? No, but our politicians will not hesitate to divert money from our public schools to help people attend private schools. Then, on top of funding barriers, we ask our educators to standardize and perpetually test their students, stripping creativity and autonomy from the classroom.
Yet, many of these issues have fallen to the wayside, considering the drastic and escalating attacks on all levels of education by the Trump administration. One of the most damaging decisions by the Trump administration has been the dismantling of the Department of Education. This will result in a loss of oversight over Title 1 funding, which was created to support low-income students and address inequity across our school districts. The Department of Education’s ability to address discrimination, provide services for students with disabilities, and administer Pell Grants and student loans are also negatively impacted by the slashing of funding, firing of staff, and shifting of responsibilities to other government departments.
Unfortunately, the attacks on higher education do not end with the jeopardization of Pell Grants and student loan programs. The Trump administration has threatened to withhold research funding if universities do not comply with his mandates, including oversight over what can be taught or discussed by university professors. Along with these threats, we’ve seen increased surveillance of university professors and harsh crackdowns on student protests.
Despite what they may claim, none of these actions are intended to reduce taxpayer spending. We know this because our government has started an unnecessary war that cost the taxpayers an estimated $12.7 billion in just the first six days. They’ve also cut taxes for the billionaire class and funded Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a deeply unpopular and wasteful organization, to the tune of roughly $29 billion a year. The issue is not an inability to fund our schools, the issue is the immoral prioritization of war above our domestic necessities.
It’s time to prioritize education before war and greed. Most people want to see our children and communities have access to meaningful education and for our educators to be protected, yet most people do not recognize the link between the federal budget and their local schools. This leads to many people disengaged from the struggle to protect our schools.
The Books Not Bombs Committee is working to change that. In coordination with the National Days of Action Campaign led by the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, we host monthly virtual teach-ins about the ongoing threats to education and acts of resistance. A strong coalition of students, faculty, parents, and concerned citizens is our strongest weapon against the gutting of our education system. Please join the growing coalition, attend a teach-in, learn about the national event on May 1st, and address this administration and the war machine’s threat to our communities.
by Owen Madaus
