Where are the Orphans and Widows?

We are the few, the happy few, who get to read Plato with friends and take our students on nature walks and enjoy art museums and classical symphonies. “The happy few?” we challenge. We have sacrificed to get here; we know how little we have in savings and how little promise our 401-Ks hold. We know our village that upholds us and the line-item in our budget for taking dinner to friends in need. 

Our adversaries call us the “elite” with our private schools, archaic languages, single-income households, and classical music wafting through the open window. They don’t see the financial poverty that lies behind the riches, so we might ruffle our feathers defensively, “I am anything but elite!” we decree. 

But the truth is, they are right. As teachers within the classical renewal and recipients of the Western Tradition, we are the happy few. We hold intellectual, artistic, cultural, and religious riches aplenty. But those aren’t the kind I want to discuss now. I want to walk thinner ice and see how far you’ll walk with me. 

If you are a part of classical education, you likely can either afford to send your kids to private school, can afford to live on one income, or you work as a teacher in a classical school. Statistically speaking, only the last in that list fall below or near the poverty line. This is a problem that demands attention, but I will leave that for another day. 

Today, I want to ask instead: Where are the poor and needy, the widow and the orphan, in the American classical renewal? 

I can’t imagine telling a single mom working at Target that American public schools have failed our children and classical education provides the best alternative. What could she possibly do with that information? What happens when those mothers want a classical education for their children but must choose between providing food on the table or paying for an education? If the truth cannot lead to action it leads instead to despair. 

Despite this (as yet) unanswered question, we’ve taken great strides. Classical charters schools are popping up all over the country, and an estimated of 20% of classical schools are now charter schools. However, entry to these schools is often very difficult and lottery based, and some classical charter schools are never able to open for lack of community buy-in. And while these schools are free, we can’t assume that means those who most need free education are attending these schools, as about 40% of charter schools are in affluent areas (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools). So while these free classical schools do exist, they are not necessarily serving low-income communities. 

Charter schools offering free classical education to low-income families is a great start, but I pray just the beginning. In order for classical schools to open and grow in low-income areas, parents have to choose these schools for their children. The beauty of this renewal is that it grows from the ground up, not the top down: from parents and communities that embrace it. And since 57% of all households living below the poverty line have a single mom, we cannot reach the children in these families without attending to the single mom. I would go so far as to say classical education cannot thrive in America without attending to the single mom. 

And how do we attend to her? When will she make it in to school? Will she leave work early? Leave the other children at home? Skip dinner that night? Where is she?

We’ve misplaced the single mom. 

Yet we know the best way to increase literacy, nurture culture, and generate true riches is through mothers; this has always been. Mothers in ancient Greece were the keepers of culture and tradition. Mothers in ancient Rome upheld the household by serving as the household priestesses. Mothers in Judaism pass on the religion and heritage through their blood. Mothers in the early Christian church symbolized intercession and salvation and upheld the prayers of the church. Mothers today are the “primary consumer in the household”—so an old, fat man in a tall building tells her she should feel insecure about the evidence of her having done that which he could never do: grant new life. And he sucks her dry while stuffing his pockets. We offer her so little dignity, we ought to be shocked.

If we want, as Hicks says, to “ennoble the masses,” we must attend to the single mom and find her a place within the renewal. She is the one who chooses the baby’s lullaby and reads the children bedtime stories and recites prayers and creeds in the morning. She establishes each household liturgy and every family custom. 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 10.9 million families in America have only one parent, while 80% of those are led by a single mom. 30% of the these live below the poverty line. This means over 8 million families in America would find it very hard to participate in classical education if they wanted to. The single mom can’t homeschool her kids; she has to work. She can’t send them to private school; they offer few scholarships. She can’t join a co-op; she can’t leave the kids home alone on non-co-op days. 

Classical education is painfully inaccessible for the majority of American families. And the above stats are all from 2022! I’ll leave it to you to guess how they’ve changed in 2024. 

I ask because I do not know the answer, but I cannot stop wondering, how can we invite these women into classical education? I do not believe that classical education can thrive in America without reaching the poor and needy, and I do not believe it can truly, effectively reach the poor and needy without reaching the mothers. 

I have some half-baked ideas that might work as a starting point from which to think. Please share your thoughts so we can all think together on this!

• Funders could offer more scholarships to private schools
• Homeschooling moms could invite children in their neighborhood or church to homeschool with them. Payment could be in goods and services rather than money. Single moms are skilled!
• A single mom could open a Pre-k in her own home. This would allow her to get paid while taking care of her own children. 
• People who know and love classical education could volunteer to run community events that introduce the wider community to classical education. Increasing community support would increase the number of charter schools. 
• Mothers could reach out to the single moms within their own community and ask how they can support them. 

What do you think?