Opinion - Taking the day after the election off from school? Not in my classroom.
An elite private school in the Bronx announced last week that it was making class "optional" for high school students the day after the election. The principal of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School said the decision "acknowledges that this may be a high-stakes and emotional time for our community."
As a history and civics teacher at a peer private school in New York City, I, too, am worried about how students will respond to this moment. But school isn't optional, thanks to the movement for compulsory education laws at the turn of the 20th century. Letting kids skip school is not only dismissal of those reformers' work in the past — it's an insult to the future.
This entire week, students, you need to come to school. I care about how you feel, but I'm more concerned about what you know.
Civics knowledge is at an all-time low. In a 2024 study , 70 percent of Americans failed a basic quiz on the three branches of government. Only half could name which branch makes laws.
No wonder students feel hysterical — they're disempowered. If they actually believe that Donald Trump will "pass" a national abortion ban, it is only because they don't have the tools to understand how that would be impossible.
Schools are meant to help young people become better citizens. But only eight states and D.C. require a year-long civics class to graduate. My class on U.S. government is an elective.
So this isn't anything new. But now, the stakes are higher. Trump will not "pass" a national abortion ban, but if Republicans succeed in keeping control of the House (too close to call as of this writing), it's not impossible that he could sign one into law.
When Trump won in 2016, I was not yet a teacher. I was a devastated student. But the trend in education of the last eight years of abdicating class time to students' feelings is more devastating. Not only are we losing out on civic instruction, we're also unintentionally teaching students that how they feel is more important than getting to work — or even dreaming of running for office themselves.
To be sure, social-emotional learning is central to my teaching in the classroom, and should be in all schools. It works, as many recent studies have found that social-emotional learning is a critical component to increasing academic performance.
But teaching civics is itself social-emotional learning. What could be a better investment in mental health than providing students with knowledge that makes them feel hopeful?
When students learn how to talk to one another, establish alliances and make change, we don't only help them feel better. We are investing in the nation's future politicians, organizers, staffers and lobbyists.
So on Wednesday, my class was mandatory. I certainly hope that other institutions made the same choice. Clearly, canceling classes and exams in 2016 did not help the left eradicate Trumpism.
In fact, my students arrived early to school, sleeves rolled up. They were not teary-eyed. Instead, they were excited to lead the mandatory high school assembly they had been working on for the past few weeks.
My principal began the assembly by acknowledging the variety of appropriate emotional reactions to this election. But then, my government students pulled up the electoral maps and started teaching the student body how this happened.
So let's follow my students' lead: Get to school and get to work, regardless of how you're feeling about Trump.
Rebecca Zimmerman teaches civics and history in Brooklyn, N.Y.
