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New Dealers kept their distance from educational reform because the issue was so politically charged. Schools were powerful political symbols to many Americans, representing both progress and independence. Conservatives already accused the New Dealers of attempting to centralize power in Washington; New Deal administration of local schools would only give credence to the accusation. Educational reform furthermore threatened the emerging New Deal political coalition of labor, liberals, southerners, and blacks. Federal financial assistance to public schools, for example, might create tensions between big labor, dominated by Catholics who would seek financial assistance for parochial schools, and liberals opposed to parochial education. Southerners feared federal intervention in their schools would undermine their practice of segregated education. An activist educational policy thus had the potential to disrupt already-tense relationships between antagonistic groups whose political support was vital to the New Deal.
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This section contains 144 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
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