Here is a bit of history of which you are likely unaware: A Black man named Robert Smalls — a Civil War hero after a daring escape from slavery, later a Reconstruction-era legislator and congressman — insisted in 1868 that a new South Carolina constitution include a provision for free and compulsory public school education in his state. His proposal was the first of its kind in the nation.

Smalls, like so many other freedmen, understood that full citizenship required education, which had been denied not only to enslaved people but also to less affluent white children. Wealthy plantation owners and merchants hired tutors for their children, but those without means were simply left ignorant. As the Founding Fathers had frequently noted, a vigorous democracy would depend on an educated citizenry, so Smalls and others among the newly liberated sought universal education with enthusiasm, not only for themselves but also for the white people who had fought to deny them schooling.

Reactionary opposition, however, has never given up its struggle against universal public education, and if Donald Trump wins a second term, as polls strongly suggest, his cronies will continue their quest to destroy the system of free and widely accessible schools. They simply don’t believe in a government-funded structure that offers an educational boost to everyone — regardless of race, ethnicity, creed or religion.

Since public schools became widespread in the early 20th century, even in rural areas, they have functioned as the great equalizer, providing not only the basics of “readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic,” but also the foundation for greater economic security, even for those born into poverty. Though the segregated Black schools of the Jim Crow era were intentionally underfunded, they, too, provided students a basic education — largely because of the Black teachers who believed in their mission. That meant that many Black graduates could gain decent jobs outside menial labor.

Sadly, it turns out that’s not what a sizable group of Americans wanted. In his brilliant polemic, “Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart — Again,” Robert Kagan observes, “Large numbers of Americans have always rejected the founders’ claim that all men are created equal.” Any institution that contributes to equality was bound to stir their ire.

Over the last few decades, as Republicans have taken over state governments across the country, state legislatures have begun to whittle away at public schools. They began with a campaign they call “school choice,” which sounds innocuous but is actually a movement to drain taxpayer funds away from public schools and into private institutions. At least 13 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that give students taxpayer-funded vouchers to use in private schools. While advocates claim those vouchers help poor students escape troubled public schools, that’s not true. The vast majority of vouchers are used by more affluent parents to save money on private school tuition.

As the “choice” movement gains steam, reactionaries have also begun attacking the curricula in public school classrooms, pushing through laws that restrict what teachers can discuss, especially about racial history and the LGBTQ+ community. Book bans have blossomed, again most often targeting works that tackle the topics of race and marginalized people.

Most recently, the U.S. Supreme Court has begun whittling away at the separation of church and state so assiduously endorsed by the Founders. The court seems poised to allow conservative Christian practices and traditions to seep back into classrooms. That has been a priority for the Christian nationalists who enthusiastically support Trump. As Kagan notes, reactionaries were incensed by the 1962 Supreme Court decision that outlawed school-sponsored prayer in public schools. “Great numbers of Americans,” he writes, “have wished to see America in ethnoreligious terms, as fundamentally a white, Protestant nation.”

The 2025 Project, a blueprint by reactionaries detailing their New World Order, would abolish the Department of Education and even do away with Head Start, a 1960s anti-poverty program that provides preschool education for less-affluent children. That’s just the beginning. In Trumpistan, as some wags have designated the United States under another Trump regime, Jewish, Muslim and agnostic students would all be praying Christian prayers and memorizing the Ten Commandments in their classrooms. They would not be taught anything about Robert Smalls.

Cynthia Tucker won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2007. She can be reached at cynthia@cynthiatucker.com.