Assault on the University and on Public Education.
The attacks by the Trump Administration on Harvard and other universities are a critical component of the present consolidation of fascist power in the U.S.
Trump is attacking all of higher education. May 27.2025. Chemerinsky.
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article307078651.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/opinion/teachers-education-trump-administration.html
Universities are critical to the development of democracy. I have my own concerns about the role of elite private universities, but the survival of universities, of free- open dialogue and investigation is currently at stake.
Most political assessments underestimate the substantive contribution to our society by the development of free public high schools in the 1920-1945 era. The creation of free open education system was a major contributing factor in the development of a more democratic society from 1940- 1960. Education promoted public participation in decision making about public issues such as health care, social security, unionization and more.
The growth and extension of public universities in the post 1945 era had a similar effect on the expansion of democracy. All of this is under assault.
Today’s fight to democracy included the defense of education itself- public, private, secondary schools and more. The assault on equal opportunity in public education is an adjacent struggle, one that deserves more attention.
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