As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, questions about the purpose and future of the education of her citizens have never been more urgent. The Phoenix Principles offers a bold and unifying vision for how good education can renew the American spirit and sustain a free and virtuous republic for generations to come.
Education is, as G.K. Chesterton put it, the ?soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.? That transmission is neither automatic nor guaranteed; it requires deliberate effort to pass on the truths, virtues, and civic ideals that sustain a free and flourishing society. The Phoenix Principles calls us to renew that effort by restoring the principles that make education not merely a preparation for work, but a preparation for life?rooted in truth, animated by character, enriched by culture, and oriented toward the common good.
This book articulates seven foundational principles to guide our schools and inform policy: Parental Choice and Responsibility, Transparency and Accountability, Truth and Goodness, Cultural Transmission, Character Formation, Academic Excellence, and Citizenship. Together, these ideals offer a roadmap for restoring purpose and coherence to K?12 education.
Accessible, inspiring, and deeply grounded, The Phoenix Principles provides policymakers, educators, and citizens with the intellectual foundation and moral clarity needed to shape an education system worthy of a free people?and to chart a course for the next 250 years of American self-government.
Autorentext
Jason Bedrick is a senior research fellow at the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. Bedrick is the coeditor and coauthor of two books, including Educational Freedom: Remembering Andrew Coulson, Debating His Ideas and Religious Liberty and Education: A Case Study of Yeshivas vs. New York. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Fox News, Politico, National Review, National Affairs, the Journal of School Choice, and Education Next, among many other publications. Bedrick previously served as a legislator in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Education Freedom, and as director of policy at EdChoice. Bedrick received his master's degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he was a fellow at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government. Bedrick resides in Phoenix with his wife and six children.