Is Education the Answer?
The question most often asked is “What is happing in America” with all of the political turmoil we are currently experiencing and why. We have seen significant socialist organizational growth over the last decade as witnessed by the increase in membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The DSA secured what was called the biggest electoral victory in DSA history with the election of Zohran Mamdani as NYC mayor in November 2025. It was in September that a Gallop Poll reported 39% of Americans had a positive view of socialism, though 54% still had a positive view of capitalism. There has been some explicit revolutionary language from some groups like the Marxist Unity Group within DSA has a platform that centers on overthrowing the U.S. constitutional order to found a democratic socialist republic, however these are minority faction within broader movements. We have seen increased protest activity and we have seen demonstrations increase to their highest level in five years in 2025, driven by overwhelmingly peaceful protests against so-called government violence. The US recorded the largest increase in monthly protest size over the last 12 months, from an average of 172,000 people in 2024-Q4 to 696,000 in 2025-Q4.
What is not happening is armed insurrections or a coordinated violent revolutionary movements attempting to overthrow the government. What we are seeing is electoral not revolutionary as Democratic socialism in America does not rest on Marxist economics, proletarian revolution, or the abolition of private property—its evolutionary socialism is focused on reforms. While most protests are generally peaceful there have been occasions with notable violence. Two examples of this were the ICE protests in Los Angeles and Minneapolis involving arson, looting, and assaults on federal officers. Fatal shootings by federal agents in Minnesota in January 2026 sparked nationwide protests which are flash point incidents not sustained revolutionary violence. Some will say that aggressive directives from the Trump administration, coupled with increasingly combative tactics by federal agencies, may create further flashpoints in 2026. However, if we look a little harder into the sequence of events that took place it appears that the protests were more of a coordinated effort by outside organizations to cause these disruptions.
There are those who will say that the Trump administrations consideration of using the Insurrection Act and plans for additional deployments of government forces increased the tensions. The reported incidents of political violence increased by more than 30% from 2024 to 2025 which may have caused the need for consideration of using the insurrection act. So, while the United States is NOT under siege of a Marxist revolution in any meaningful sense what we ACTUALLY haveis:
- A Growing Socialist Movement: Yes, socialist organizations have grown significantly and are achieving electoral victories in some cities, particularly NYC.
- Increased Political Polarization: Extreme rhetoric on both sides, with some calling the Trump administration “fascist” and others calling democratic socialists “Marxist revolutionaries”.
- Rising Civil Unrest: Protests are larger and more frequent, occasionally turning violent, but this is protest activity, not revolution.
- Electoral Politics, Not Armed Rebellion: Even the most radical socialist groups in America are focused on winning elections and passing legislation, not an armed overthrow of the government.
- Two-Way Escalation: Both government enforcement actions and protest responses are escalating tension but many with good cause.
Mamdani’s NYC platform includes free bus service, frozen rents, universal childcare—not seizing the means of production or abolishing private property and this is classic evolutionary socialism that operates alongside private enterprise, using public ownership in specific sectors deemed essential. This is not something new and it has been tried before in other cities and shown to be a big failure. Our Real Concernand greater danger should be the escalation of political violence from all sides along with deepening polarization, not a coordinated Marxist revolution. Marxism may sound good and look good on paper but history tells us it has been a consistent failure.
Bottom Line: America faces serious political divisions and increased civil unrest, but characterizing this as a “Marxist revolution” is hyperbole that mirrors the opposite rhetoric calling the Trump administration “fascist.” Both narratives oversimplify a complex situation of escalating tensions from multiple directions.
The big question is how did we get to this point and what might we consider the cause? I have talked in the past about my belief that much of what is happening today is because of our public education system and those who are teaching our children. While the data shows that K-12 teachers are moderately liberal most are not radical. In fact, surveys show only 5% of teachers describe themselves as “very liberal,” while 24% are “liberal,” 43% are “moderate,” and 27% identify as “conservative” or “very conservative” which makes teachers only slightly more liberal than the general population.
However, Political Donations Tell a Different Story: Among English teachers, there are 97 Democrats for every 3 Republicans based on political contribution data, with health teachers at 99 Democrats for every 1 Republican. While the majority of students from all ideological backgrounds say their schools are politically neutral when asked about influences on their political beliefs, students put teachers low on the list, with only 17% saying educators were “very influential”. However, Teacher Training Programs Lean Heavily Left andmany schools are dominated by “hard-left ideology: ‘critical theory’ that says there is no truth, only power;
There are Studies which have found that “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed” (by Marxist educator Paulo Freire) was one of the most frequently assigned books in philosophy of education courses at top teacher training programs. While research has shown little evidence that classrooms are used to impose political beliefs on students’ specific issues exist as some districts have implemented controversial curriculum on race, gender, and identity. In my assessment K-12 may not be the epicenter of leftist influence but teacher training programs lean heavily left as they donate overwhelming to Democratic candidates, have implemented controversial progressive curricula and teacher unions are strongly aligned with progressive causes. If there’s an epicenter of progressive ideology in education, it’s:
- Schools of Education (university teacher training programs are definitely left leaning)
- Teacher Unions (NEA, AFT leadership) are strongly progressive
- To many Educational Policy Organizations lean progressive
- Most average classroom teachers are moderate professionals trying to teach kids
The Real Problem: Debates over free speech in schools are shaped less by ideology than by competing obligations to student learning, safety, and constitutional limits, and pressures are intensified by social media and political polarization The bottom line is that while public education may not be under siege of a Marxist revolution, there are legitimate concerns about:
- Ideological imbalance in teacher training programs
- Some districts implementing divisive curricula
- Union leadership pushing progressive agendas
- Suppression of viewpoint diversity in educational institutions
The solution is reforming education to include intellectual diversity, supporting teachers who resist ideological pressure from either direction, empowering parents through transparency and choice and focusing on academic excellence over political activism. The real answer is that parents need to be more involved in their children’s education and stop treating the public schools as if they were day care centers. My preferred answer to fixing this problem is competition from private education facilities giving parents a choice of where their children are educated.
“We Get the Government We Deserve”.
