Why is Education Essential to a Sustainable Community?
Our country’s founders recognized at the time of the American Revolution that public education was fundamental to a democratic society. Education has profound implications for any community’s sustainability. Public schools are our nation’s greatest asset. They are instruments of social justice. They enable literacy; they provide the only grounding many citizens ever get in science, social studies and other bodies of knowledge essential to civic discourse. They are crucial to making the informed decisions a democracy requires and to living in a complex society. The impact of public schools at the community level is visible and profound. Companies locate factories and offices in part based on the caliber of a region’s workforce and the public schools available to serve their employees’ children. Most families relocating choose communities primarily because of their school systems. Public education also represents the best opportunity people living in poverty have for brighter futures and
