Amen to The Columbian’s Feb. 28 editorial, “Start today building workforce of tomorrow.” But where are we in creating the citizens of tomorrow?
Improving STEM education is essential. But if this subordinates education for a free society, we will have engineers, scientists, doctors, technicians — and politicians — working to enable authoritarianism and oppression. Whether they’re aware of it or not. In U.S. politics, we already see this cloud on the horizon.
Too few people in this country have any understanding of, or interest in, the U.S. Constitution, which is the bedrock foundation of our government. Education must emphasize citizenship, much more than at present, and from an age at which students can absorb and understand. Call it civics, political science or something else. Congress and the courts are supposed to act as checks on presidential power, but more fundamentally, it is the duty of knowledgeable and engaged citizens.
