Education as a Democratic Prism: Warnings and Wisdom from America’s Schools

Seventy years after the passage of Brown v. Board of Education, many believe that we remain far from achieving Brown’s lofty promises of educational equity. In an increasingly polarized political environment rife with disinformation and discontent, we seem particularly far from Brown’s belief that public education should work to shore up democratic health. Instead, public education is underfunded, underresourced, and profoundly unequal, and American democracy remains under threat. This Symposium contribution suggests that by taking a closer examination at the state of America’s schools, we can gain insight into both democratic deficiencies and bright spots for the future of American democracy. In doing so, it takes seriously the idea that the schoolhouse acts as a microcosm for and window into the nation’s democratic health. And, more broadly, it seeks to begin to move past partisan lines in an attempt to harness interest in public education to achieve broad-base reforms that could benefit all students—and democracy as a whole.