Posted on 03/19/2024 6:32:40 PM PDT by DoodleBob
A New York University professor claimed last week homeschooled students can easily become victims of indoctrination.
During an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) book club meeting, Ruth Ben-Ghiat argued the recent opposition against public schooling stems originates with authoritarians who want to indoctrinate their children via homeschooling.
One of the reasons that they all go after education and one of the reasons that schools are being targeted ... A big thing is to destroy liberal, democratic models of secular education – get everybody out of the system, put them in homeschools so they can be indoctrinated,” Ben-Ghiat told AFT President Randi Weingarten, who hosted the discussion.
Schools encourage community values, which people supportive of dictatorial beliefs seek to erode, according to the professor.
“It also has to do with destroying teamwork, solidarity, empathy – civic values – and that’s what we teach in school, even if we’re teaching history or english,” Ben-Ghiat remarked. “The rituals of schooling, the rituals of being together at recess – all of that is teaching people to respect each other, ideally ... to bring together all kinds of people.”
She suggested authoritarians want to advance racism by weakening public education.
All of this is anathema to authoritarians who want the end of empathy, the end of solidarity,” the professor said. “They don’t want familiarity because racism is lessened when there is familiarity, when there is teamwork, when there is friendship.”
Those targeting schools seek to undermine democracy with their educational viewpoints, according to Ben-Ghiat.
Neither Ben-Ghiat nor the AFT provided The National Desk further comment Monday.
Angela Morabito, a spokesperson for the Defense of Freedom Institute and former press secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, pushed back against Ben-Ghiat's comments in a statement to The National Desk.
"Teacher union bosses and their allies are major sponsors of indoctrination in public schools. In fact, many families choose homeschooling to escape the indoctrination going on in their local school district," Morabito said. "Homeschooling is an important and valuable option for many families, and they deserve support - not condemnation by activist educators who are terrified of parents having options outside of their government-assigned school.”
Despite Ben-Ghiat's claims, many states have recently sought to challenge what they perceive as indoctrination in public schools. Last month, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita launched a portal for parents to report “objectionable” curricula.
Our kids need to focus on fundamental educational building blocks, NOT ideology that divides kids from their parents and normal society,” Rokita wrote. “The media and schools themselves have continued to deny that this indoctrination is happening here in Indiana.”
Upon its launch, portal entries included a “gender-support” plan, which directed faculty to refrain from disclosing information concerning a student’s gender identity.
Other content users submitted involved a Pride flag with a Black Lives Matter symbol, along with race and gender-based fairs and scholarships. The attorney general stated the portal helps parents and teachers.
“We not only want to help empower parents,” he said. “We also want to help empower excellent educators. In some cases, district bureaucrats suppress the conscientious efforts of caring and well-qualified teachers. Our portal is a place where educators, too, can submit examples of materials they find objectionable.”
it’s true- homeschoolers are being indoctrinated WITH TRUTH- as opposed to public schools indoctrinating them with LIES and FILTH!
oh, and the home-schooled kids get a far superior education too- and learn the basics and advanced subjects that will actually help them in life- instead of learning about the filthy immoral homosexual sex lives of their perverted teachers like public school does-
Indoctrination is good when we do it.
I'll bet $20 he is an open borders guy.
BUT PUBLIC SCHOOLS DO NOT INDOCTRINATE?!
Either she's stupid or just plain evil.
“professor”, “University”.....nough said.
Total sales combined of 100 copies.
By letting parents choose their children's schools?! OH NO!
So to sum it up, she produces no value whatsoever.
She writes about fascism, authoritarianism, and propaganda—
She could be stupidly evil.
These people are not isolated. It has to be the new normal among university professors. Coming soon to your neighborhood. I am certain there is more to it. I think they are exploratory probing leftists being strategically placed for a reason? Influencing local universities and political powers policies perhaps when they are called upon?
She is what I would call an awful.
The only school allowed is government school comrades.
Home schooling is a dire threat to teacher unions. School funding is allocated on a per pupil basis. Fewer students, fewer bucks. After the Covid debacle and the the bad pr of parents as terrorists, teacher unions and public schools are hemorrhaging students.
This reads like satire.
Yes, indeed!
Emphasis mine.
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