Posted on 10/08/2009 5:55:57 PM PDT by GraceG
What’s most amazing to me, is that even among liberals there are very few people who can justify an anti-school choice stance. If it seems as though this video contains some “straw man” arguments… Believe me, it’s just THAT hard to find a logical case against school choice. If anyone can think of a more valid reason that hasn’t been included in the video, be sure to comment it below.
(Excerpt) Read more at bighollywood.breitbart.com ...
It’s simple. It’s government.
Public schools suck because they’re under increasing federal control.
Geez. I have kids in public school and I also have taught.
Don’t get me started. ;)
Attendance is mandatory.
I pulled my kid from public school last month and he’s finishing his sr. year online, will be done by January. He and I are both greatly relieved to be out of that zoo/circus/prison.
Government
Take as much tax dollars as you can and deliver as little as you can.
That, and there is zero punishment for a piss poor performance.
NEA Union
In 1977, Jimmy Carter created the Dept. of Education which he promised the National Education Association he would do in return for their support during his election campaign. He effectively gave the extremely left-leaning NEA a cabinet post. From that point on, public education was doomed to become what it is now. Few people realize what kind of fruit loops are in total control of public education in this country.
Because they are based on socialism?
Bingo. 70% of property tax in my area goes to 'public education'. Right down the union rat hole.
They have lost the ability and desire to think independently & critically and are also seeing to it that our children do not learn how.
They’re GODLESS!!!!
Well first, before addressing any other issue you have to define how you measure “suck” and why it is important.
If people understood the truth of our situation, there would be blood in the streets tomorrow.
I think Steve meant, why are they so “gay”.
The public school monopoly is the ground zero battleground controlled by the far left to produce immoral leftist clones.
This has resulted in the election of a radical far left anti-American pauper as president.
One of the main problems is that the quality that goes into education majors at our colleges is just subpar.
Dewey's book Democracy and Education (1916) is the bible for the leftists in education. I don't know this but I'd be willing to bet a bundle that Bill Ayers reveres this "celebrated work on progressive education." People I knew did PhD Ed. dissertations on it. It is alive and kicking and continuing its educational wreckage today.
It is huge and hard to read. Basically it lays out the "progressive" case for education and how a "democracy" should be built.
Knowing how those words are used by the left ought to give you a good clue as to what this book preaches. Much of the frustrating garbage that "modern" education spews out has its roots in this book.
If I could I'd wipe out this book's influence and take credit for restoring sanity to education.
But I can't.
Dewey..and the social engineers
A government-run three-letter organization [of course]: the NEA.
1. They are owned by government.
2. They are controlled by Leftist teachers’ unions.
3. Racial integration. (Sorry, but it’s true.)
Abuse Button ————————————————————>
forced integration, busing, refusing to expel troublemakers, elimination of corporal punishment, dumbed down environment friendly textbooks with lots of pictures, teachers unions, death of small neighborhood schools, rise of outrageously costly sports programs, making every loser student believe they should go to college instead of pointing them to a applied technical education more appropriate for their intelligence, laws shielding minors from proper punishment for their adult crimes, ect, ect, ect..
I could go on all day.
Public schools today exist only to provide employment for adults. If the kids learn something, that’s a bonus.
Not actually..........in many states.
I wish you and your kid well.........
No, they don’t know and would deny the truth when presented with it.
Hit! the nail squarely on the head.
Dewey in conjunction with these Communist Goals:
Communist Goals (1963)
Documention below
Congressional Record—Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.
At Mrs. Nordman’s request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following “Current Communist Goals,” which she identifies as an excerpt from “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen:
[From “The Naked Communist,” by Cleon Skousen]
CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. “Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.”
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture—education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use [”]united force[”] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.
“School choice” won’t improve education, just like Obama’s healthcare option where “insurance companies compete” won’t improve healthcare.
Any system involving gov’t funding won’t work like the free market works because it’s not the free market - it’s just the gov’t funding education and insurance. Plus, inviting the gov’t into any school only involves intrusion and regulation.
The best option is to shut down the DOE, stop federal funding to schools, and push for the states to cut education spending, loosen their education policies, and allow the private sector to step in and take control.
They’ve accomplished a lot already, haven’t they?
The public schools suck because the teachers are unionized exempt salaried employees.
Tenure rules are meant to protect teachers from capricious firings based on changes in school administration. These same administrators are also granted tenure.
Let’s review, I have a staff that can’t be fired and management that can’t be fired.
So when two immovable objects meet, what are the results?
To fix the public schools, tenure needs to go away for both teachers and administrators. The school board needs to regain control of their districts, curriculum and hiring and firing practices.
When teachers complain about their salaries it is useful to remind them that they work 185+/- days per year. The rest of us work 260. Subtract your vacation time which is variable from 14 to 30 days based on number of years. Some companies only offer 20 days max. At the very least, it’s still a 45 to 60 day disparity at the very least.
They have better retirement pensions, which many of us don’t have pensions at all. They have 403b which is like 401k. Better medical benefits and 30 days of sick time per year.
The administration does work 260 days minus vacations.
Thanks. He’s happy as a clam.
Absolutely true! On all counts!
forced integration, busing, refusing to expel troublemakers, elimination of corporal punishment, dumbed down environment friendly textbooks with lots of pictures, teachers unions, death of small neighborhood schools, rise of outrageously costly sports programs, making every loser student believe they should go to college instead of pointing them to a applied technical education more appropriate for their intelligence, laws shielding minors from proper punishment for their adult crimes, ect, ect, ect..
I could go on all day."
Excellent summation. And all true.
I'd like to add one other point:
The demise of America's public schools is not due to a lack of funding.
I think the public schools that have failed the worst are those in the big cities. And Democrats have controlled most of the big cities for decades. They don’t want an educated electorate.....
Public schools were never intended to produce intelligent students with strong skills. So from a technical standpoint, they’re not doing anything they weren’t meant to do.
Because our national leadership sucks (past, present and apparently future).
I’m assuming your objection to “racial integration” is really an objection to forced bussing.
But, if it’s really segregated schools that you want, you could have them (for all I care) if both the federal and state governments got out of the education business and let the private sector run the schools. Then people could get together and, through their churches or other private organizations, open schools, start learning cooperatives, offer classes, etc., and be as exclusive or inclusive as they like for whatever reason. (That’s how it works in the “homeschool community” which is part of the private sector.)
The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.
Precisely. Until we are comfortable addressing that point there won’t ever be any real change to the status quo.
Public funding worked when it was local and before the unions got control.
Even before the Dept. of Education was created, many people weren’t happy with the public schools. Back then, my folks sent us to private school, and they weren’t happy about paying a school tax, either.
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