Posted on 12/04/2004 6:55:55 AM PST by Mikey
The cause of educational freedom was given a great boost on the weekend before Thanksgiving at the Omni-Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. There, at this opulent inn, were gathered some of the smartest "rebels" in America, voicing uncompromisingly that the government should get out of the education business. The occasion was the 10th anniversary of the Alliance for the Separation of School and State, of which the indefatigable president is Marshall Fritz. He chose the Omni-Shoreham because they don't show pornography in their rooms.
Since 1994, Marshall has sponsored a Proclamation for the Separation of School and State, which, to date, has been signed by 26,000 individuals around the world. It reads: "I favor ending government involvement in education." Marshall wants to get 1 million signatures. If readers of this column would like to sign it, get in touch with Marshall Fritz at 1071 N. Fulton Street, Fresno, CA 93728, www.HonestEdu.org. Their phone is: 888-325-1776.
The keynote speaker at the conference was none other than our own Joseph Farah, who said, "It takes a radical agenda to fight a radical agenda. We are the rebels." In the fight to take back America, Farah told homeschoolers that they were "the vanguard of the Revolution." He urged parents, who haven't yet, to get their kids out.
In fact, "Getting the Kids Out," was the major theme of the conference. Other speakers included Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association and president of Patrick Henry College. He was the recipient of the 2004 Alexis de Tocqueville Award presented by Tim and Beverly LaHaye. His address was on "Judging the Fruits of Secular Statist Education."
John Taylor Gatto, in a speech entitled "The Paradox of Extended Childhood," gave one of his stemwinders about the evils of public schooling and the benefits of educational freedom. He stressed that the structure of public education cannot be changed and that the education act, No Child Left Behind, should really read, Every Child Left Behind.
He also had the opportunity to tell us about the provocative documentary film he and a colleague, a former student, are making about American public schooling. We were shown a sample, which was quite impressive. He had just returned from Australia by way of a 28-hour plane trip. His wisdom is slowly spreading across the globe in ways that the media never hear about. He is a great American original in the spirit of Jefferson, Adams and other major thinkers who shaped this nation. His remarkable book, "The Underground History of American Education," is slowly making its way into the minds of Americans who care.
Also at the conference were the two men responsible for introducing the resolution at the Southern Baptist Convention calling for the removal of Christian children from the public schools. Bruce Shortt and T.C. Pinckney brought their story to the conference in a symposium, "Get the Kids Out" Strategy for Baptists. Shortt has also written a new book, "The Harsh Truth About Public Schools," that should send any Baptist minister into shock.
Another speaker was Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute, which has become the primary resource for information on homeschooling that the media turn to when in need. Beverly Eakman, author of "The Cloning of the American Mind," led a round table on psychographics. Her earlier book, "Educating for the New World Order," has become a classic critique of government assessment programs that violate the privacy rights of students and parents. Yours truly also led a round table on Behavioral Psychology in the Schools.
Joseph Sobran gave one of his entertaining and provocative views of what our government is doing to protect us. Sobran has become something of a neo-anarchist in his later years, deeply suspicious of and greatly annoyed at the state. Homeschooler Cathy Duffy spoke about the future of education without government.
To have had so many great speakers and knowledgeable attendees at one conference for two short days is so rare as to be quite unexpected. Much to my surprise, I also received an award, The Diggers Award, for having written years ago on the need to get the government out of education.
I had attended four Alliance conferences in years past, and this one was not only the best, but also the most exciting. Not only were the speakers outstanding, but the conference resounded with a spirit of impending success as more and more people are beginning to understand that public education cannot be reformed and that the only solution is a return to educational freedom.
Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld is the author of eight books on education, including: "Is Public Education Necessary?" "NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education," "The Whole Language/OBE Fraud" and "Homeschooling: A Parents Guide to Teaching Children." His books are available on Amazon.com. Back issues of his incisive newsletter, The Blumenfeld Education Letter, are available online.
I consider public education a function of government insofar as it can be considered an extention of that. Beyond standard weights and measures lies a necessity for establishing a common language, terminology, grammar and syntax, and making it common knowlege, as well as the basic knowlege of mathematics and science needed to deal with the technology those business dealings will employ and rely on.
... we need to get them out of the indoctrination and social engineering business.
tacticalogic
I wholeheartedly agree with you. While I completely applaud homeschoolers there are some people who, for whatever reason, can't, and others who just plain shouldn't.
The schools, teachers, and the district where I live not only encourage parental involvement and input, but expect it. I know because my child attends one of the schools, as do many of the children of friends.
Maybe where you live, but from where I come from the local school board elections are sometimes more highly charged and competitive than those for legislative offices. they also tend to attrack more candidates than legislative offices.
The first step: end compulsory attendance laws.
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch18s35.html
And where might THAT be?? That situation is certainly as rare as hen's teeth in today's "ed biz".
I consider public education a function of government insofar as it can be considered an extention of that. Beyond standard weights and measures lies a necessity for establishing a common language, terminology, grammar and syntax, and making it common knowlege, as well as the basic knowlege of mathematics and science needed to deal with the technology those business dealings will employ and rely on.
21 tacticalogic
In that case, it will be ultimately self-defeating, but it will take a boatload of other stuff down with itself.
Congress Critters like Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia (an illegal state) have turned the national treasury into public handouts in order to remain in office. And the citizens love and bask in it …while tossing their freedoms in a trash can.
The only way to justify a ‘public school system' is via the... "for the common good clause". That clause is so vague that government could funnel tax dollars towards private flower gardens, gas stations and grocery stores should it wish to do so.
Government DID NOT recognize or support a public school system from the signing of our Constitution… until 1817 - the founding of the New York Free School Society which later became the Public School Society of New York. Somewhere along the line our government has been high jacked.
In 1920 elected congressmen, who were all members of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, were able to convince the President of the United States to establish the cabinet level "Department of Education". The Secretary of Education was of course a freemason. To this day Freemasonry takes sole credit for passage of the "Smith-Tower Education Bill" which was the beginning of giving Federal Aid to Public Schools (Albert G. Mackey, Mackey's Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Vols 2, page 817).
During the Second Great Awaking... America was a Bible-Believing Christian Nation. People wanted their children to have a Christian education based on Christian Faith and Precepts of the Holy Scripture, primarily the Ten Commandments (John Daniel ”Scarlet and the Beast”).
In 1857 Scottish Rite Freemasonry took control of education in America by founding the National Education Association (NEA). NEA has controlled public education since that date. And thanks to NEA the Constitution of the United States is little more than a footnote in the classroom. My experience in working for a southern state teachers union leads me to believe that less than a small fraction of public school educators know the history of the field they work in.
Yes, other organizations played major roles in corruption of our public school system. The Progressive Education Association and John Dewey Association were founded in the 1930s to “Socialize America” with Socialist/Marxist educators known as “frontier thinkers”. Yes you are correct the communist manifesto clearly defines the take over of a nation's education system as a means to control that nation.
All who have ever attended public school are familiar with Scholastic Magazine. Between the late 1920s and mid 1930s Scholastic Magazine featured articles written by known Communists such as Langston Hughes and Harold Rugg. Rugg also authored numerous other communist articles. (District of Colombia Appropriation Bill for 1937, Subcommittee of House Committee on Appropriations, 74th Congress, 2nd Session, 1936, pp. 709-710, as recorded in Blackboard Power; NEA Threat to America, p.26).
In order to correct what is wrong with public education we will have to totally dismantle the entire system and start over. We would have to fire the "highly qualifed" with all the other lesser qualified teachers. I fear we will simply have to to learn to live with what we have simply because too many educators have lives and careers invested in a failed education system but which is very beneficial as a 'jobs program'.
My reference "where I come from" is Delaware, I haven't lived in Virginia long enough to know how heated the school board elections get around here.
Well, I my experience covers Louisiana and Washington, and it doesn't match yours. In those two states, the local boards have little effect on curriculum any more.
I totally agree! We had a huge battle to put a phonics based
curriculum in our small rural school.
After one year the teachers dumped it - too much work
for them!
ping
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