The Weeds: Politicization of Research, Partisan Policy, and Pushing Forward Toward Implementation
Political debates surrounding the most effective methods to educate American students are not new to the national discourse. In fact, such debates are as old as the American Republic itself. Benjamin Rush a signee of the Declaration of Independence and advocate for publicly funded education said the following when accused of supporting oppressive taxes to fund schools, “ But, shall the estates of orphans, bachelors, and persons who have no children be taxed to pay for the support of schools from which they can derive no benefit? I answer in the affirmative to the first part of the objection, and I deny the truth of the latter part of it” (Rudolph 1965, p. 6 – 7). The history of American education is replete with deep educational divides surrounding questions that are still relevant to our current context. Questions pertaining to access, funding, and training of teachers have always been at the fore of the American educational dialogue. Yet, in recent decades we hav...
