CHICAGO —Capitalism is not interested in creating a society of people who can think critically and work for the well-being of the working class.
Capitalism wants to create poorly educated wage slaves to accept low-paying jobs with no benefits. It wants to send both men and now even young women to fight and die in imperialist oil wars and that kill our working-class brothers and sisters and make profits for the bosses.
Capitalist education wants to turn children into test takers and not thinkers because capitalism doesn’t need thinkers.
Capitalism simply needs workers to do menial work that requires little thought. As long as the bosses control society the education system, will never be beneficial for the working class. This is capitalism’s vision of education working the way it’s supposed to work. For the capitalist!
These points along with many others regarding the education system were raised on February 13 during a debate at Chicago State University. The debate was titled “Public Education: The New Battle For Civil Rights.” A room was filled with students, teachers, union members, community residents, and members of Progressive Labor Party, two of whom were on the panel.
The debate was supposed to be on whether charter schools or public schools are better options for our children. PLP does not fight for reform but for revolution, so from the beginning the Party members on the panel pointed out that as long as we live under capitalism, education will never serve the working class.
PL’ers pointed out the racism behind the school system. A majority of Chicago Public School students are black (43%) or Latinos (44%). Every day these children are crammed into overcrowded rundown schools with hardly any resources. A majority of the schools that are scheduled to close are on the South Side where a majority of black and Latino students live.
In schools marked for closure, a majority of the teachers in these schools are black. The point was also made of other factors that capitalism burdens us with. Many of these students live in poverty, which means poor health care, children going to school hungry, and children bringing problems from home with them into the classroom. The panelists on both sides agreed that these are obstacles which our children face and something should be done about it.
PL’ers described how charter schools make a bad situation even worse. Charter schools are a capitalist’s dream. They’re schools run by corporations that implement the agenda they choose to implement. These schools can practice selective enrollment, which leaves all the children with problems in public schools.
Charter schools also attack the teachers. They are turning teaching from a career into a temporary job. They are not unionized and hire young teachers for a few years and then toss them out when they’re no longer wanted. A few audience members noted their experience in a charter school, its strict discipline and the fascist environment.
The audience approved many of these points made by the PL’ers. Everyone in the audience agreed that something has to be done to change our education system as well as overcome the obstacles people face under capitalism. Everyone in the room got copies of Party flyers and many CHALLENGES were taken by guests. Even after the debate ended, many people stood around for another hour to talk with PL’ers. We are hoping to hold more discussions like this on the Chicago State campus to win students, teachers, and workers to PLP to help build for the fight for communism so workers can one day have the education system that serves them best. Join us on May Day!