Stephen Kleinsmith: Republicans have been dealt a royal flush on education policy

It is a foregone conclusion that public education faces the equivalent of a poker royal flush, and as you might imagine, that kind of hand is all but impossible to beat.

Educators recognize this, and that is crucial because bluffing with those who have no reason to blink may result in a bankrupt public school system. In going bankrupt, I am not talking about only money, but the entire system as we know it.

President Donald Trump has made it known that he is a supporter of privatizing the public education system. A sure sign of his ideology began to unfold when he selected Betsy DeVos as his secretary of education. She has proved herself time and again, especially in Michigan, to be a supporter of vouchers, tax credits and for-profit education. She has virtually no public school experience and quite frankly no knowledge of the breadth or depth of what public schools are required to do.

So one would think we could rely on Congress. That assumption would be incorrect. With the president’s party holding majorities in the House and Senate and with a historical record of pro-privatization, those of us seeking support for public education from Congress may need to consider folding our hand early, thus saving what political resources we have for another day.

Adding to the royal flush, here in Missouri we have elected Gov. Eric Greitens, who is on record supporting this ideology. This was recently evidenced in his advancement of education savings accounts for special needs children, where the money can be used for private school tuition or home-schooling.

As for our state legislature, where a supermajority of members belong to the same party as the governor, we find little relief there. So there they have it, a royal flush: a hand capable of beating anything thrown their way.

So what is one to do if preserving the rich tradition and benefits of public education is your goal? Many of us fear that a sloppy overhaul of public education will bring us the educational equivalent of the sloppy overhaul of health care in 2010 we now know as the contentious Affordable Care Act. Not seeking input and action from the opposing points of view only builds resentment and eventually a harsh backlash, as we are seeing now with the ACA.

Rather, one would hope we could be courageous enough to acknowledge the many benefits embedded and embodied in our 200-year tradition of providing a quality public education experience to many of America’s young people.

Truly, Horace Mann had it right when saying, “The public school is the greatest discovery made by man.”

Let’s not get greedy for the sake of political pride, but rebuild and reform from the ground level up a national education system based on the everlasting strength found in state and local control. And we should do this in concert with the other party — the one that is currently in little condition to negotiate.

History shows that when the country carrying the big stick extends an olive branch at the right time to the right people, everlasting appreciation and camaraderie grow from that courageous gesture.

So to those holding the royal flush, let us have a seat at the table and use our experiences, ideas and intellect to help build a better tomorrow for all the young people who deserve a quality education, regardless of where they were born and raised.

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Stephen Kleinsmith: Republicans have been dealt a royal flush on education policy."