Why New York State Should Guarantee Public Education Through College

Public education in the United States is under attack. Last year, the Trump administration proposed cutting billions in education funding. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos openly scorns the public school system. When she visited New York City in May, she opted not to visit a single public school in the largest school system in the country. Across the US, teachers have gone on strike to protest devastating budget cuts and demand fairer salaries. National publications have openly pondered whether “public education has a future.”

The US needs a public education system for the 21st century that goes beyond our outdated concept of K-12 education and redefines our commitment to education to include both early childhood development and post-secondary schooling. New York should become the first state in the country to constitutionally guarantee free, quality public education from pre-K through college.

For New Yorkers, educating young people has always been an integral component of empowering youth and building productive communities. Brooklyn, for instance, appointed its first schoolmaster in 1661. But back then, education wasn’t accessible to all; it wasn’t until 1894 that the state constitution mandated “the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this state may be educated.” This provision, though ahead of its time, was rather broad. It was left to the courts and additional laws to refine its meaning. Today, New York State requires only that children ages 5 to 16 attend school — and the state only provides free public education from kindergarten through high school.

We must be bolder. New York should lead the nation and be the first state to guarantee free quality public education from prekindergarten through college.

In 1894, providing for free high school education was an incredibly forward-looking…

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