No spoiler alert required:
It’s something that all of us who work in education already suspected. A lot of individual “bad decisions”, are often driven by a lack of access to knowledge and correct information. Also, an inadequate and/or ineffective K-12 educational experience, leads to a lot of bad societal outcomes. The national public and private prison system, essentially owes its very existence to poor educational experiences for selected members of the society.
One could hypothetically extend this study to other academic areas like: English Language Arts (particularly the experience, and exposure to a broad range of fiction and non-fiction reading materials), Mathematics, Science, History, The performing and graphic Arts, Music, Dance, Technology, Foreign Language, etc.
Does this theory of the political effects of academic deficiency, in any of the before mentioned subject areas, lead to the inability to fully function as a knowledge-information-facts based, empathetic and thoughtful citizen?
If voting is a core principle of a democracy; then why is not a good education also a national priority, to insure that voters are adequately prepared to make the best decisions?
“If Americans Can Find North Korea on a Map, They’re More Likely to Prefer Diplomacy”—NY Times
