The Year of Public Schools: 2024

Do you remember writing an essay in response to the writing prompt, “What I did this summer”? One month into summer vacation, Duplin County students are already making memories to write about. Although parents will not have to write anything in the fall, they are enjoying time with their children and thinking about the transition to a new grade, a new teacher, or a new school. Teachers are benefiting from a much-deserved break but also planning for the new school year. Administrators are evaluating the past year, anticipating the coming year, and working to have everything ready come August 26. What about us in the general public? We can use the summer to think about the value of public schools.

On January 23, Governor Roy Cooper visited Nashville Elementary School and signed a proclamation, “The Year of Public Schools 2024,” which begins with these two statements: “WHEREAS, North Carolina’s public schools are essential to our state’s prosperity and are the foundation of our communities, providing opportunities for all children, and ensuring that our state has a strong, well-educated workforce and well-informed people; and WHEREAS, public schools welcome every child — celebrating students of differing ability, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, wealth, language, country of origin or needs — and help cultivate a passion for learning, inspire curiosity and imagination and unlock the potential of millions of young people each year.”

Governor Cooper’s proclamation is firmly rooted in the establishment of public schools in our country. President John Adams wrote, “The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves.” Horace Mann, called “The Father of American Education,” is credited with developing the public education system still in use today. His principles included: the public should not be ignorant; education should be paid for and sustained by the public; schools should welcome children from a variety of backgrounds; the schools must operate within the ideas of a free society; and education should be provided by well-trained teachers.

My Presbyterian faith tradition has always valued public education, beginning with John Calvin in the 16th century. He founded public schools so people could not only read and interpret the Bible, but also be prepared for whatever vocation they felt called to.

In 1987, my denomination called on Presbyterians “to join with others in their communities to provide schools that will secure for all children an education that develops their capacities to serve as creative and responsible persons in the common life and to mobilize the resources available in each community — home, church, community organizations (both public and private) — that will support public schools and share in achieving the necessary education of children and youth.” This summer let us renew our appreciation for and support of public schools, with the hope that the children and youth we educate today will be responsible citizens and good leaders in our communities in the years to come.