Café Inquiry (Online) – Public Education Under Siege

This event is held online. (Click the button to join the Zoom meeting.)

Public education in the United States is threatened on multiple fronts. Attempts to ban the teaching of certain concepts are becoming more and more widespread. Vital funding may vanish due to attempts to divert public money to pay for private schools, sometimes private religious schools. There is a shortage of qualified teachers brought on by low pay and sometimes untenable working conditions. Join us at the next Café Inquiry as we explore the history of public education in the United States and look at the purpose for having a public education system as well as how much influence parents should have over curriculum. We’ll also examine some of the threats to the system mentioned above. This paper from George Washington University gives a broad overview of the history of public education in the United States. This blog post from Public School Review highlights some advantages of public education. This Time article looks at parental rights in education and how they can get out of hand. We think this topic will provide some thought-provoking discourse.  Hope to see you there!

Café Inquiry starts with a short introduction of the day’s topic, followed by casual discussion.

This event is free and open to the public. Donations appreciated, but not expected.

Attendees are able to future propose topics which would align with Michigan Humanist’s purpose: from atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and freethinking to broader subjects in science and humanities, such as religion, philosophy, social issues, politics, evolution, morality, ethics, and psychology.

Café Inquiry (Grand Rapids) meets each month on the second and fourth Sunday.

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Michigan Humanists values the participation of all guests — requests for reasonable accommodation may be made by contacting the event host at least three days prior to the event.

Michigan Humanists expects all guests to engage in respectful discussion. Critiques on views and claims based on merit are allowed, but not attacks on individuals who hold other perspectives.

Any person engaging in disruptive behavior or harassment will be asked to leave, and may be banned from future events pending the severity of the action. Please speak to the event host or contact info@michiganhumanists.org if you feel these expectations are being violated.