Overview:
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is making this teacher excited about the possibility of a Social Studies teacher being elected as Vice President of the United States.
Vice President Harris’ choice as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for a running mate is not even two hours old, and I am celebrating. Why? As a social studies educator, I hope a Democratic victory in November will bring a former teacher’s voice into the Oval Office. It’s my hope that Walz’s influence on education policy and national policy in general will bring America closer to the ideal of “a more perfect union” while ending the threat to American democracy, which is Donald Trump. May the “detrumpfication” of America start on January 20, 2025.
Trump’s Candidacy and Education
Donald Trump’s candidacies in 2016, 2020, and 2024 have helped destroy most of the social and political norms both parties had accepted and operated under since the two-party system solidified during the progressive era of the early 1900s. His presidency helped erode the checks and balances system enshrined in the Constitution. His choices for the Supreme Court have led to an erosion of the rule of law under the decision that allows the President limited immunity for official acts.
Having Tim Walz at Kamala Harris’ side, if they prevail in November 2024, will signal the start of the repairing of the guard rails that limit the powers of the president, which have been dismantled by Trump, his allies in Congress, and his minions in his administration. Walz taught the intricacies of the Constitution to young people in his early career. He then implemented those concepts as a Congressman in the Legislative Branch and as chief executive of Minnesota as governor. Walz understands how the Constitution works and respects those limitations. He can begin the process of teaching the American people how and why America is the global beacon of hope for the survival of democracy around the world. We all need a Civics refresher, and Harris and Walz will be the ones to deliver that important lesson.
Who is Walz as a Teacher?
As a teacher, Walz knows what it means to provide a fair and just learning environment for all of his students. The same egalitarianism will be applied to the citizenry of the United States with Harris and Walz as heads of the federal executive. They will introduce legislation that protects voting rights, marriage equality, and reproductive freedom for all Americans, no matter what their race, socioeconomic status, or geographical location. We can expect the federal executive branch to enforce the Fifth Amendment on the federal level and the 14th Amendment on the state level in the areas of social justice, fairness in policing, and anti-discrimination in voting rights. Walz learned from the challenges presented to all levels of government during the Black Lives Matter Movement and the violence that sometimes accompanied African-American cries for equal treatment by police in the streets of America. It was a hard lesson to learn for Walz as the death of George Floyd took place in his state under his watch. But it is a lesson that needs to be applied to all levels of government on a national basis.
Walz can be a voice for a respected but forgotten segment of the American workforce: K-12 classroom teachers and educators. He can support the national teacher’s unions and their state and local divisions so that teachers can gain improved working conditions and a living wage commensurate with the importance that we ascribe to teachers at all levels. Teachers have not been represented at the highest levels of the federal executive since Lyndon Johnson held office. It is time to upgrade their standard of living so that students in schools across the nation can benefit from these improvements. While parents must have a voice in their children’s education, the teachers must decide on the curriculum being taught. It is teachers who have been trained to keep church and state separate, to allow for all communities to be represented in classroom materials, and to reduce the level of censorship to a minimum only when the safety of students is at risk.
Will Harris and Walz Protect Teachers
Teachers must be able to teach the history of America, faults and all, without fearing recrimination or accusations of liberal bias. America’s history is one of movement towards racial and social justice, but that implies that our history originates from a position of prejudice and discrimination. From slavery through Jim Crow to the Civil Rights Movement, we have seen the long arc of history bend towards justice. Teachers should not be forced to whitewash these ideas. Harris and Walz must use their bully pulpits to protect teachers in their classrooms from this type of modern intellectual McCarthyism.
I am hopeful that the tide has turned in America so that the thrall of Trumpism with all of its division and tendency toward white Christian nationalism is on its way to the ash heap of American History. The Republican Party has its own ideals of rugged individualism, smaller government, and lower taxes. Let Republicans test these tenets in the marketplace of ideas without the hatred, sadism, and narcissism that Trump has inflicted upon it since 2015. Only then can America’s democracy emerge as the positive political framework that we believe it to be.
