Begin in agreement, for example: Our public schools need to provide every child the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential in life.
Use values, for example: Opportunity, equal opportunity, fairness, fair share, level playing field, opportunity for every child
Show how they benefit, for example: That’s why we need to provide your children and grandchildren, your nieces and nephews, and all the kids in our communities, the very best schools.
Public education is under attack from conservatives who are, in essence, promoting a corporate takeover of public schools. To push back, you need to understand what Americans think about K-12 education issues.
Americans overwhelmingly support increasing teacher pay, addressing teacher shortages, banning cellphone use in classrooms, expanding career and technical education programs, and implementing security measures to keep teachers and students safe.
On other issues with a sharp partisan divide, we must look to Independents to gauge what persuadable Americans believe. Two-thirds of Independents oppose Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate the Department of Education, while 23 percent support it. By a two-to-one margin, Independents think DEI programs are important in public education. Almost three-fourths of Independents are satisfied with their own child’s education. And when asked to grade schools on a scale of “A, B, C, D, or Fail,” Independents rate schools in their own community 30 points higher than schools nationwide.
Because Americans like their local schools and teachers, and because voters care more about how policies affect their own communities, you should lean heavily on arguments based on how an education policy will impact local schoolchildren.
Say… Public schools serving our families must provide every child the opportunity to reach their fullest potential. There are no standardized children; every child has different strengths and weaknesses. That’s why we need to offer a comprehensive curriculum delivered by professional teachers trained to provide the individualized attention every child needs.
The narrative above uses four strategies: (1) Focus on the listener’s own children and neighborhood schools rather than education in the abstract. (2) Indirectly push back against the overuse of standardized tests and teaching-to-the-test by explicitly pointing out something that every parent knows: each child is different and requires individualized attention. (3) Change the narrative about school quality measured by average test scores to a narrative about how well our schools provide every student the opportunity to learn and excel. (4) Insist that only professional teachers, rather than amateurs or computer programs, have the knowledge and skills to do the job right. Another version:
Say… Public schools serving our families must give every child real access to an excellent education—an accurate, comprehensive, and relevant curriculum delivered by professional teachers who are trained to meet each student where they are. There are no standardized children. Every child has different strengths and different ways of learning. Only skilled, trained teachers have the knowledge to provide the individualized attention every child deserves to grow and reach their full potential.
This keeps the focus on students rather than systems and concludes with values.
Don’t say… The nation’s schools, high-poverty schools, failing schools, failing teachers, soft bigotry of low expectations, student achievement
Say… Our children, local schools, schools in our community, opportunity to learn, to succeed, teaching-to-the-test, one-size-fits-all, every child is different, unique, an individual, professional teacher, teaching profession
Conservatives appeal to Americans’ belief in the market system and urge that parents be treated as consumers and that schools be run like corporations. But schools are not businesses, teachers are not factory workers, and students are most certainly not products for sale. After two decades of conservative education policy, there is still no evidence that any of their proposals benefit students.
Whatever your progressive solution—whether it’s smaller class sizes, programs to attract and retain excellent teachers, or a broader and richer curriculum—emphasize the underlying value of equal opportunity and focus on what’s best for every child, which our listeners visualize as their own child or grandchild. If your solution is more resources, specify how you’d use the money: for art, music, science labs, technology…what every child needs to succeed. For example, if you are arguing against larger class sizes:
Say… Every child in our community deserves the opportunity to grow up and live a successful life. Every child needs excellent schools and professional teachers. Smaller class sizes help children learn by allowing teachers to spend more one-on-one time with each student, providing the individualized instruction they need.
Similarly, if you are opposing legislation that would drain resources from local public schools, emphasize that. For example, if you are speaking against spending taxpayer dollars on private school vouchers.
Say… Every child in our community deserves an excellent neighborhood school—fully staffed, well-resourced, and ready to help them succeed. Voucher programs drain money from those schools to subsidize private institutions that aren’t accountable to taxpayers, don’t have to follow the same rules, and can turn families away. There’s no credible evidence that vouchers improve student outcomes. What they do is weaken the public schools that serve most of our kids. Let’s invest in schools that belong to all of us.
This narrative opens with shared values, names harm, discusses accountability, and ends affirmatively.
Finally, don’t repeat the anti-teacher and anti-child message frames. They do not support progressive arguments.
Don’t say… School reform, education reform, run schools like businesses, achievement gap
Say… Each child deserves an excellent education, personalized instruction, opportunity gap