Twenty-one ways "public schools" harm your children

R. C. Hoiles was the publisher of the Santa Ana Register, now the Orange County Register, the flagship of media giant, Freedom Communications. We are commemorating the 40th anniversary of Mr. Hoiles publication of his great vituperation against "gun-run schools." It has been edited for length, a process newspaperman Hoiles would understand.

They dare not teach the spirit of the Constitution as set forth in the first official document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence. They dare not teach it because it says that all men, not just the majority, are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

A man isn't free to pursue happiness when the majority in any school district, state or nation can coerce him to pay for a school that he believes violates the principles upon which this government was formed.

The school teachers dare not emphasize this part of the Declaration of Independence. They dare not explain the true meaning of this statement. If they were successful in explaining and teaching the true meaning of these ideologies, there would be no gun-run schools.

Again, they dare not teach that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed. They have to completely repudiate the ideas of the American way of life. They have to teach the old-world philosophy of the divine right of governments, only now they call it the divine right of the majority rather than the divine right of kings.

They dare not teach in government schools the meaning of liberty. It is doubtful whether any teacher in gun-run schools dares define the kind of liberty the Founding Fathers mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to support. If the government schools successfully taught the meaning of the liberty our Founding Fathers had in mind, there would be no government schools that starve the intellects of our children.

The government schools dare not teach the meaning of the Golden Rule. If they were successful in getting their pupils to understand that they should not force other people to pay for something they did not want, then they could see that it was a violation of the Golden Rule to force others to pay for their schooling.

They, of course, dare not teach their pupils to believe that if it is wicked and a violation of the Golden Rule for one man to do a thing, it is still wicked and a violation of the Golden Rule if 49 per cent or 99 per cent of the people do the same thing. They, thus, dare not teach the youth that the ideal government, the only kind of government that can be of value to mankind, is one that is limited to the use of defensive force and never has a right, under any circumstances, to initiate force. I want to continue suggesting things that tax-run schools dare not teach.

They dare not teach the First Commandment: "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me" because they are bowing down and worshipping the will of the majority rather than the eternal laws of God that no man made and no man can unmake.

They dare not teach "Thou shalt not covet," because they are violating the Coveting Commandment.

They believe they do not need to teach well enough that people will voluntarily pay their salaries. They get their pay by violence rather than by rendering service well enough so that those who pay them believe they are benefited by their employment.

They dare not teach discipline and self-reliance because they are not disciplining themselves enough to render such service that they can be paid voluntarily. The teachers take the shortcut and use a police club to get their money. That certainly is not discipline, nor is it self-reliance.

They dare not teach thrift and the harm that comes from getting into debt. They dare not do this because the government burdens every child and every person in the United States with a monstrous debt.

They dare not teach respect for individual initiative because government schools are based on lack of respect for other people's initiative. They are based on the theory that "We've got the power and the individual is helpless and we're going to make him pay for anything our agents think is education."

They dare not teach humility and meekness because the means used by government schools are the exact opposite of humility and meekness. Are believers in tax-run schools so sure they are right that they are willing to initiate force to make people support their ideas of education? They see themselves as so exalted that they have lost all humility and meekness. And remember, "He who exalts himself shall become abased."

They dare not teach children to reason. They have to teach them not to recognize a contradiction or a dilemma. If the pupils were taught to reason, they would recognize the tyranny that is bound to follow making people pay for things and ideas they abhor.

They dare not teach the harm that follows socialism, communism, collectivism and fascism for to do so would let pupils realize that aggressive force is part of socialism, communism, collectivism and fascism.

"Hitherto the plans of the educationalists have achieved very little of what they attempted, and indeed we may well thank the beneficent obstinacy of real mothers, real nurses, and (above all) real children for preserving the human race in such sanity as it still posses."

They dare not teach that what man wants must be obtained on a voluntary basis. They dare not teach this because they get what they want on an involuntary basis.

They dare not teach the difference between socialism and private ownership of property. They dare not explain that under socialism the only way a man can benefit is by injuring another, as in the case in compelling people to pay for schools they think will destroy the country.

They dare not explain that in free enterprise, including free enterprise in education, the gain of one is the gain of all.

Tax-run schools dare not teach love and charity because they are using aggressive force. They seem to think that aggressive force is better than persuasion by love and charity.

They cannot teach patience because they are so impatient about getting what they seem to believe is an education that they dare not wait to persuade those who should employ them to pay their salaries.

They cannot teach peace and goodwill because they are an example of the opposite of peace and goodwill. They are an example of initiating force, of threatening to get from others by aggressive force what they think they should get.

They cannot teach that the government is a servant of individuals because they believe it should be supported by giving it a monopoly to use aggressive force to make people pay. They can only teach that it is a master of the individual.

They cannot teach justice because their method of supporting the schools is based on injustice — arbitrary, initiated force.

They cannot teach that each man is responsible for his own life because they deny that by using force to take part of man's energy against his will, and man cannot be responsible for his life unless he has the right to choose. There is nothing more important for parents than their duty to see that their children are treated fairly and have an opportunity to learn from schools that can teach these great moral principles and axioms. It is not the money we're wasting in our tax-run schools that is so important, but it is that our children are not being taught the moral laws that tax-less schools can teach.

It is because children can be taught what is right in tax-less schools and they cannot be so taught in tax-run schools that I am obliged to do what little I can to get parents to see that they are not doing their duty to their children by sending them to tax-run schools.

What we need above everything else is more people devoting more time to seeing that the youth of the land are instilled with belief in the great moral laws, the Golden Rule, and the Declaration of Independence. Government schools cannot teach successfully the will to learn. The best way to teach anything is by example. But the superintendent and managers of the schools themselves are not enough interested in the will to learn to be willing to answer questions as they would before a court to determine whether what they are doing is in harmony with what they profess to believe. If there is anything a man of integrity should want to learn, it is whether what he is doing is in harmony and consistent with what he says.

exactly.

hoiles owned the colorado springs paper. friends from the springs brought it to the university.

and it was my first introduction to the libertarian viewpoint.

the orange county register was responsible for energizing republicans that elected ronald reagan. when i moved to socal in the mid-80s i caught the end of a great paper.

it's a tragedy that the parasites who inherited their fortunes from hoiles, not one, could think of managing the business. they were too interested in spending their money.

now, the oc register is liberal-socialist puke.

As a public school student, I would like to add an interesting perspective to this discussion.

I go to a public High School and am very smart. A public school education will not ruin your kids.

It all depends on the maturity and morality of the child. If you instill good values into them before you send them to a public school, they will most likely do fine. I did.

However, if you do not instill good values into them, they will be susceptible to liberal brainwashing.

So if you do decide to send your kids to a public school, just educate them on morality and conservatism beforehand.

"I have worked in public schools for 15 yrs. I have seen some excellent teachers and some who are just horrible. I agree with Ahnold...merit pay for teachers, no tenure, and no union! Bad teachers cause the whole system to fail."

I absolutely agree. I have had some teachers who deserve to be paid $100,000, while others I had should be fired.

Good evidence of what a good teacher can do is with my 4th grade teacher. I had a lousy 3rd grade teacher and my test scores were about average. But a year later my test scores jumped all the way to the 95th percentile, where they remain today. She is probably the best teacher I have ever had, even though at the time I didn't particularly like her.

it's a tragedy that the parasites who inherited their fortunes from hoiles, not one, could think of managing the business."""

Of course, this isn't uncommon in the business - or newspaper - worlds. A dynamic founder is succeeded by heirs who are more interested in cashing in - or cashing out, and professional managers are brought in, along with all a corporatist, "get along go along" approach to ideology and principles. A number of newspapers that were once proudly conservative -- Chicago Tribune, Dallas News, Detroit News, even LA Times -- went left when family patriarchs died. It does sound, though, as if none of these papers was ever as radically pro-liberty as Hoiles' was when he was alive (to judge from his condemnation of public schools as "gun run" schools! Wow! That took real independence of mind, and real courage. those kinds of qualities aren't always inherited!)

yeah, well the los angeles times used to be readable.

the chandler son took over the times and was more interested in surfing.

he moved the corporate offices up to oxnard so the could be closer to the surf.

one day during a corporate meeting, a secretary came in and slid a message to him, and he looked at it, dismissed the times corporate staff, and tossed the message into the trash on his way out the door. the staff grabbed the message. it read:

"surf's up".

a few years back the los angeles time was purchased by the chicago tribune.

We have been discussing inexpensive ways to fast track kids through high school to avoid the liberal agenda:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315730/posts?page=84#84

Unfortunately my thread title was not well thought out, because some parents might instinctively skip over it due to attached stigma, whether real or imagined.

[One of school's most important effects is to ensure that most people never develop a working vocabulary of morals, liberty, and knowledge, because school preempts all these things in it's day-to-day operations, and it has to conceal that fact from the vast majority of people so that it can survive as an institution.]

It seems that so many deny the this obvious truth. The P.S. system intentionally deceives parents and fears the loss of their jobs more than their concern for the education of children. I understand that the teachers have the highest percentage of their own children in private and other alternative schools than any other profession in America.

That's great news that you received a quality education in East Islip, Long Island. East Islip is union free and that may account for some of this. It sounds as though they have acquired qualities I don't see within the districts we have attended on Long Island.

Certainly, you are correct, there are good public schools within the bad. My daughter had a fabulous teacher in first grade and that teacher should be rewarded by the system. She should be singled out for her success and dedication. Unfortunately, I don’t see public school districts doing this. That is incentive, and it works for everyone. Rewards for the best teachers. Not an equal status regardless.

I graduated on Long Island many years before you and I can see the difference in the curriculum comparing back to days gone by. My children come home and there is an extreme amount of propaganda and political correctness being taught and not enough time spent on the topics this article is covering. They are not focusing on the studies that give the best of education. They have stopped celebrating America and promoting pride among our children. They do not teach the topics, in depth, of what made America great like they did when I was young.

I wish you continued success in your education . It’s good to hear you did well. I hope you are considering continuing on. You must be very intelligent, your young and posting on Free Republic ;)

WOW! what school do you teach in. Thats some wild stuff. I must remember to ensure that my students don't "develop a working vocabulary of morals, liberty, and knowledge" next week when I get back to work.

You don't need to trouble yourself. It will happen on its own. The students are placed in a strange environment for 13 years and told to "perform", more or less. It's up to the student to find a way to comply. He "knows" deep-down that explicitly religious outlooks are fit to be marginalized, and that the regimen he's being put through is sacrosanct. And so he finds a way to do what he's told, without making recourse to religious underpinnings. But, how else can a student do this except by living out a personal "triumph of the will"? In the aftermath you often get a telltale embrace of bizarre, aggressive, left-wing hedonism, but that's just a consequence of the mold into which students are squeezed. After that it's off to college, and sometimes law school, and heaven help the rest of us.

Your points sound as etheral as some liberal crazy talk in universities!

That's okay; you have to muck around in the ether in order to find bigger lessons of life in everyday experience, but we have to be aware that life isn't all ether, and concrete reality, far from being contemptible, teaches us to know our limits.

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