In this guest editorial for publication, State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly cites an article written by Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was 18 and talks about how it still rings true today in 2022:

 

“In 1947, an article titled “The Purpose of Education” appeared in the Morehouse College campus newspaper. In it, the author argued that “education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from fiction.” He boiled it down to a direct truth: “The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.” The article was written by a student. He was barely 18 years old, and his name was Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

“It’s been 75 years since that article was published in The Maroon Tiger student newspaper, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words ring just as true today. Intensive critical thinking is the foundation of public education because it is the cornerstone of democracy. That is why investment in our schools and our children is also investment in the civic life of our state and our nation. It may be trite to say that the children are our future, but it’s only repeated so often because it’s true, and our future deserves to be a bright one.”

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