I first became aware that education and democracy were intertwined in my eighth-grade civics class at E Street Grammar School in San Rafael, California. Though it was more than 75 years ago, I well remember our teacher Miss Timothy with her piercing blue eyes and scary black mustache. She was a force to be reckoned with as my friend Elsa learned when she was caught chewing bubble gum in class and had to wear that pink blob on her nose until the bell rang her reprieve.

It was also in that class that I first heard the phrase “education is the last bastion of democracy.” That was the conviction of Horace Mann (1796-1859), who is widely acknowledged as “the father of public education in America.” Like many of our forebears, Mann grew up in a time when education was available only to the rich.

He became a prominent American education reformer strongly advocating for universal public education in the belief that it was essential for a functioning democracy. Although compulsory education laws have been in place in the United States since 1642, and all states had passed these laws by 1918, enforcement was often lacking until the 1930s. By the time that our current generations came along, the concept of “compulsory free education” was accepted by most of us as a “universal truth,” though many of us have been involved in the continuing struggle toward the “universal” part.

My own understanding that public education and democracy were intertwined was further reinforced when a young soldier and his Japanese war bride moved in next door to us during the summer of 1949. At 13, I was allowed to babysit their little girl when my mom helped Sakura sign up for “citizenship classes” at San Rafael High School. That was more than 75 years ago, but I still remember that lovely young woman’s excitement about going to night school “for free!” she would exclaim! “All for free!” And I began to realize that everyone wasn’t as lucky as we were here in America.

Unlucky Trump and Musk

Many of our new White House leadership weren’t so lucky either. It should not be lost on us that neither our current president nor the leader of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) attended public schools. From what I understand, their formative educational years were not comparable to that of most Americans. The basic precept of democratic understanding automatically fostered by public schools — that in a democracy we take care of each other — is not part and parcel of the private school experience.

And lest you think that none of our U.S. presidents attended public schools as did many of the rest of us, I remind you that Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford and Herbert Hoover did attend public grade schools and graduated from public high schools, as well. Truman. Johnson and Ford graduated from publicly funded colleges, too. I doubt that this list is definitive and I also feel compelled to mention that at least one of our presidents — George Washington — had no formal education at all.

But it’s only when someone who has not walked in my moccasins and feels his footprints are more important, that I get upset. How dare Mr. Musk decimate the federal funding that is designated for special education in our country – the money that should be spent on the most vulnerable and needy of our children? And yes, my moccasins — for 39 years I was a public school teacher of primary-aged children, many of whom received at least a part of their learning experiences through the special education offerings. And your moccasins, too. Your tax dollars, your concerns to our school board, your vote for our State Superintendent of Education! Those who are battering at democracy’s bastions didn’t go to public schools and they probably don’t get the memos about taxes. Or do they even understand what money is for besides accumulating it in an offshore stash someplace?

About that word ‘bastion’

So, if you still aren’t sure what bastions are, my reference to battering at them should have given you a clue. As it turns out, “bastion” has several meanings and many synonyms, all of which share the root “bast,” which means “build.” Bastion can refer to any place to which one turns for safety; that can include not only buildings but also concepts, ideas and even beliefs. Thus, when it is said that “education is the last bastion of democracy,” it is not unusual for the image that accompanies the words to show a fortress-type building with the word EDUCATION carved over the doorway.

It’s harder to illustrate the battering of an idea which, of course, both “education” and “democracy” are. Will it be only when they have been pulverized beyond recognition that we will truly understand what life looked like when they were fully in force? I fervently hope that this will not come to pass. Not soon. Not ever. Not here.