Invocation for the Dawn of a Red State School Year

Welcome back, Students,

you might notice a few

changes this year:

We cannot teach you

Real History,

nor Real Social Studies,

no genocide nor slavery

no systems of iniquities

and no Real Science,

nor even Real Biology,

lest you learn too much about

chromosomes and biodiversity

and the preacher down the street

should happen to disagree...

And no Real Literature,

even the classics

which your parents

and grandparents learned

...and loved...

And don't worry,

we've emptied

the shelves

in the library

of so many Real Books

about Real Lives

and Real Loves

of Real People

and Real Experiences

including the Reality

that human babies

are not delivered by storks

and also, that sexual abuse:

rape, and molestation,

are very Real Things, too.

And we can neither

Acknowledge nor Affirm

who you Really Are:

not your Pronouns

not your Name

And we cannot discuss

your Real Family

and your very Real Parents

who Really love the Real You

if they do not fit the

Aryan Family Ideal.

No! Not even

if your grandparents

and great-grandparents

or perhaps even

your great-great grandparents

fought against this Nazi nonsense

nearly a century ago.

No, now, our Statehouses

and our Governors

fully embrace it

and demand it

for you've got to be

carefully taught*

lest the teachers be

fined and fired

the dollars add up

the careers fade away

And remember,

Red State Students,

you don't need College

to Succeed

for the Corporations

are your Salvation

and they need Bodies

to Consume

the younger the better

We'll defund any University here

who dares to offer 'DEI'

And remember,

We can't have you

learning elsewhere

what we won't teach you here.

After all...

If Education is Power,

then Empires would crumble

and Tyrants might fall...

--

*the lyric, "you've got to be carefully taught," comes from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, 'South Pacific,' which was frequently banned for discussing topics such as racism and interracial marriage. It was more recently quoted by Lin Manuel-Miranda in 'Hamilton.'

--

2024, Rev. Le Anne Clausen de Montes. May be shared and reprinted with attribution. Le Anne is a former international human rights worker and peacemaker, prisoner of conscience, and pastor in the Presbyterian Church- PC(USA). She coordinates the Iowa Faith Leadership Network, Neurodiversity-Affirming Congregations, and the Center for Faith and Peacemaking. She resides and raises four children in Iowa, where a series of recent laws, including SF 496, ban books describing sex, LGBTQIA+ content, and other diversity-related content and materials from the public K-12 curriculum, and ban DEI support programs and content from public colleges and universities. Her most recent published work may be found in 'A Liturgy for All Bodies' (Cyclical, 2023).

On the Real Value of One's Education: Vocation, Greed, and the Student Loan Crisis

At the beginning of another school year, I write this reminder:

The value of an education,

and especially higher education,

is not solely,

nor even primarily,

economic gain

(aka, the size of your paycheck).

Unfortunately, our country's dominant political narrative since the 1980's has been that it should be reserved as a luxury for the already, or perhaps soon-to-be, wealthy. This narrative has been increasingly reinforced with every recession, every collapse of an industry that required a college education, the soaring cost of college following government budget cuts, and of course, the U.S. student loan crisis.

Education, including early childhood education, PK-12, higher education, vocational education, continuing education, and lifelong education, should be a universal human right, available to every person who has the desire to learn and grow. This is how we move forward as a human society; and likewise, we break apart as a society whenever we try to restrict who has access to complete their education--whether by race, by gender, by religion, by nationality, or by economic status.

What the student loan crisis and the for-profit university scandals in the United States have taught us in these past few decades is that education should not become a commodity for profit, because it then becomes a weapon to do harm rather than to help people live into their full calling and vocation.

We will do well in this country to follow the example of many other countries in the rest of the world--to invest in our people and their education as a common good, for our common future--rather than denying people the opportunity or exploiting them financially due to their families' socioeconomic background.

--

2024, Rev. Le Anne Clausen de Montes. May be shared or reprinted with attribution. Le Anne is a graduate of Mason City Schools and Wartburg College in Iowa, and was an international human rights worker and peacemaker prior to seminary. She is working to create the Peace Center of North Iowa, and coordinates the Iowa Faith Leadership Network, We Parent Together, and The Way of St. Elizabeth. Le Anne's most recent published work is included in 'A Liturgy for All Bodies,' (Cyclical, 2023).

Other Countries Figure It Out, So Why Can't We?

Other countries can figure this out, and I can see no good reason other than our own American classism and xenophobia why we can't:

+ One year of paid parental leave for the caregiving parent as a universal program, not tied to a specific employer.

+ A public option/ universal early childhood learning center and childcare during the toddler and preschool years, similar to having a public school system. (Yes, parents could choose to stay home with their kids. Yes, parents could choose a private or faith-based school. Yes, parents could choose where to live and therefore which public childcare). It takes 9-10 months to make a baby. That's more than enough time to list them and prepare for a place in a childcare center if needed, really.

+ Before- and After-School clubs and care for children whose parents work shifts and don't have the flexibility to work only during school hours, that are sliding-scale based on income, up until youth are of working/ driving age.

+ Universal public healthcare and universal public higher education are also two more things that other countries have figured out are a solid investment in their people and their country. It is a *good* thing if we have more people who have not only the talent, but the training and support to go and work as healthcare practitioners. Or as scientists. Or as teachers. Or as social service workers. Or as mental health practitioners. Or as engineers. Or as any number of things--but our country instead chooses to waste its time stigmatizing lower-income workers and anyone who would like to attain an education and put it to use to help people but who isn't themselves independently wealthy.

It's so frustrating. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot as a nation, over and over again, and for what? To have someone do less well than us, to watch others suffer in life, in order to make ourselves feel better? I'd rather see all of us do okay, and we should want to ensure all people at least have their basic human needs met.

The longer I live, the more I see that most of our problems in this country and in this world are the results of our own policy choices--and our lack of awareness for how other places have done things better, or our lack of willpower to choose leaders who will work together to make things more equitable, healthy, and safe for everyone, is why things are the way they are.