Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy.

• Author: McCluskey, Neal

Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy

Derek W. Black

New York: Public Affairs, 2020, 309 pp.

Tension between liberty and democracy is ancient, dating back at least to the time of Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato. More recently on the timeline of humanity--the 1830s--Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about the "tyranny of the majority," the distinct possibility that more numerous groups would use democracy to impose their will on minorities. A major theme of the Federalist Papers is constraining "government by the people" so it does not oppress "the people." And the Declaration of Independence says that the role of government is "to secure" rights, especially "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Government is the means, liberty the end. But you would not know that from Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy by University of South Carolina law professor Derek W. Black. The book frames democracy, or maybe even public schooling itself, as the ultimate good.

There is a lot to take issue with in Schoolhouse Burning, but three things stand out: its legal analysis of the federal role in education, extremely narrow histoiy of American education, and demonization of public schooling critics. The last one, which is perhaps the most disappointing part of the book, is abetted by Black's downplaying of major liberty concerns throughout American education history.

Black's legal argument, as you would expect from a law school professor, is the most novel part of the book. While he eventually seems resigned to education being a state function, Black presents an interesting, if ultimately failed, argument that the Founders thought government needed to provide education to all, including an implied federal education right. He asserts that the paramount importance of, and federal right to, education can be found by examining the thoughts of the leading Founders and the Land and Northwest Ordinances of 1785 and 1787.

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and George Washington, whom Black mainly cites, did indeed see education, including some public provision, as important. Jefferson famously proposed a system for Virginia that would provide all white children three years of free schooling, and even said the federal government should explore funding education. Washington also advocated for a federal education effort. And Adams wrote about the need for educated citizens and argued it should come at public expense.

Black is also basically correct about the ordinances. The Land Ordinance, which codified how western territories would be handled, called for townships to be divided into 36 lots, with the 16th to be "reserved ... for the maintenance of public schools." It also directed that a portion of proceeds from sales of "gold, silver, lead and copper mines" go toward...