I've long been cynical of the school system, though since then I've gotten a more complex view. (Now I feel a lot of sympathy for teachers as well as students.) I've learned quite a bit about school board politics and while it's too simple to say "the government" messes the schools up, it's not entirely wrong. Many who get on have ulterior purposes, and many also hope to use their time on the board to catapult themselves into greater politics (which means pandering to the public rather than acting with actual concern for the school, and sad truth is many in the public don't have values that support people like Jaime Escalante). Some are just shady trying to get unethical business arrangements through the school (that the taxpayers pay for), a few don't know what they're doing and acting more like clueless dilettantes (one I heard of was easily manipulated by the scum on the board, and her stupidity was mind boggling), and there are many with a political agenda that are contrary to a school's best interests, and this includes those who don't reveal their actual agendas until they're elected onto the school board.
This was particularly organized in Texas (it was also tried in California with limited success) because if they can control which textbooks are bought (and not bought) then the corporations that make textbooks will cater to them, and as it's cost effective to make the same ones (different ones can be made, but will be more expensive so most schools will skip it) and that means they get to push their propaganda upon kids even in other states since Texas has so many customers. I'm grudgingly impressed, as well as deeply disturbed, since many of those involved in this would probably give full support to a Republic of Gilead if they thought they could get it in one fell swoop (and that's the long story made short). It would make sense that a group like that would want to get rid of someone like Jaime Escalante as well.
In addition, there are state and federal agencies that manipulate through funding, and also have tricky ways to steal from the school budgets for corrupt purposes that they wouldn't dare openly vote for (libraries are also a favorite target for politicians to steal from). Some corporations find tricky laws to pass that SEEM like they're friendly to schools but are actually about taking from schools for the profit of the people who actually sponsored the bill. Naturally, people like that at best won't be supportive of Jaime Escalante, and many would see him as a possible threat (especially if they take a long term view which prefers a dumbed down population).
That would not be me. In case you haven't heard of it, I'm sure you'll want to see this:
COINTELPRO - Wikipedia
It didn't just focus on racial minorities, but they were a high priority, including MLK. I'm not going to say they were directly behind his assassination (we're a violent nation of obnoxious jerks and it doesn't take much to get us ready to shoot someone), but I won't dismiss the possibility either.
A silver lining at least was this lesson plan she came up with that turned out quite effective (though she warned only someone properly qualified and detached should be allowed to do something like this or it could do more harm than good):
Jane Elliott - Wikipedia
I'm not going to sort through all the interviews and such, but I recall when she did this on a room full of adults that one white person claimed "black people need to get over it, it shouldn't effect them" but himself got threatening towards her when she did that experiment, as he realized what it was actually like and felt somewhat traumatized by the experience.
And btw, going with my previous post, an interesting bit is that the academic performance of whichever eye color was being treated worse among schoolkids actually declined (that is to say how kids are treated, including on things like color, make a difference--and that was just being treated badly for a couple of days or so, not everyday!).
And how could I forget...this was not the only project of its kind, but perhaps the most infamous:
Tuskegee syphilis experiment - Wikipedia
More that might be of interest to you (warning, this stuff can easily upset people just learning about it):
Unwanted Sterilization and Eugenics Programs in the United States | No Más Bebés | Independent Lens | PBS
And that aside, people complaining about people kneeling during the national anthem have actually caused me to think about the issues being brought up, which wouldn't have happened had people not reacted as if this was a terrible misdeed...and I bet I'm not the only one.
