Posted on 06/23/2006 6:25:24 AM PDT by cinives
Several weeks ago, I was sitting in a hotel lobby sipping a Coke and visiting with my friend Michael Reagan who had just given a speech before several hundred people. Mike, as you may know, is a best-selling author, radio talk-show host, Fox News contributor, and eldest son of President Ronald Reagan.
A few minutes into our conversation, Mike remembered something he wanted to tell me. “Brannon,” he said, cocking his head in my direction, “I thought of you this morning when I read the newspaper.”
I wondered if he were about to crack a joke at my expense but noted that there was no trace of a smirk on Mike’s face. “Really?” I wondered, “What made you think of me?”
“Well,” Mike said before pausing for an instant (I wonder where he picked up that mannerism) “I was thinking of you because I read in the paper that Jeb Bush has become the first governor in America to sign into law a state-wide requirement that ninth-grade high school students pick a career major and focus on that major from ninth through twelfth grade. You’ve predicted something like that on my radio show more than once since 1993—also in your book for which I wrote the foreword.”
Mike was correct. It’s a prediction I hoped Americans would be wise enough to stop before it came to pass. As the education reporter and often the guest host of Michael Reagan’s program I had spend countless hours warning Mike’s listeners about Goals 2000, School-to-Work, Outcome-Based Education, HR6, No Child Left Behind, and other federal plans that have the goal of merging education with industrial production, thus turning our schools into vocational centers where students are “trained” rather than educated.
Republicans and Democrats alike are to blame for nailing this tenth plank of the Communist Manifesto into the educational foundation of schools right here in the good old U.S. of A. Lest you think I exaggerate, the tenth principle of the Communist Manifesto states that the goal of schooling for society’s children should be the “combination of education with industrial production.”
Starting in 1992, the transformation of America’s schools into vocational centers greatly accelerated. T.G. Stict, who served under Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, has observed, “Many companies have moved operations to places with cheap, relatively poorly educated labor. What may be crucial, they say, is the dependability of a labor force and how well it can be managed and trained, not its general education level.” In other words, as long as we can control people, who cares what they know?
Through programs like School-to-Work the “State” decides which children will go on to college and which go straight into the workforce following their “training certification.” State education authorities review a student's educational history and determine the career track the individual will follow. The desires of Big Brother, I mean, the State take precedent over the wishes of the individual and his or her parents. Those who conform to governmental standards are rewarded with further education and a good job. Those who do not reflect the liberal, Secular Humanist worldview will likely be pushed to vocational jobs where their Christian worldview is less likely to have an impact on the culture.
The California PTA has noted that “School-to-Work is based on the premise that government control can do a better job of training individuals, satisfying occupational demands and managing the development of economic activities than can the effort and initiative of millions of individuals.”
The draconian educational measures of the past fifteen years have made strange bedfellows. President George H. W. Bush gave us America 2000. Although President Clinton later changed the name to Goals 2000, he supported the program and pushed through several federal bills that further meshed education with industrial production. President George W. Bush expanded what his father and President Clinton had begun when he cozied up with Ted Kennedy to give us a massive federal program with the irresistible sound-bite name, No Child Left Behind. Florida Governor Jeb Bush then took advantage of federal funds available from his older brother’s program and on June 5, 2006 signed into law the ninth grade career major requirement. Florida is the first state in the nation to require this state-wide. Under Florida’s new law, career exploration will begin as early as sixth grade. By ninth grade, students will need to declare their career major. Several other states are not far behind and will soon join Florida in this radical American implementation of the Communist Manifesto.
Did you know what you wanted to do when you were in ninth grade? Do you wish the government had decided for you then what you would be doing for the rest of your life to earn a living? Would that seem like a heavy-handed restriction on your freedom to be self-determining? (In case you need help on this test, the right answers are No-No-Yes.)
Students will be encouraged to select a career that will direct them either along a vocational track or a college-bound track. With the assistance (or coercion, perhaps?) of school career counselors, students will be channeled into the path that is “right” for them. But here’s one of the big problems that is guaranteed to arise: If a ninth grade student who decides on the auto mechanic track, for example, changes his mind in the eleventh or twelfth grade, he’s stuck without the schooling needed to go to college upon graduation. At that point, a vocational track student will not have taken courses needed for acceptance into college.
Some of you may consider this a good idea since not everyone should be college bound. And I agree that in many regards, college is a waste of time and money unless a person aspires to be a doctor, lawyer, nurse, engineer, or other such professional. Several studies reveal that many, if not most, of America’s millionaires do not have college degrees. Such notables as Rush Limbaugh, Bill Gates, President Harry Truman, and the late Peter Jennings never graduated from college. Yet while a college degree is not needed for success, an academically sound education from kindergarten through twelfth grade is essential for every student regardless of their post-high school plans. It is the only way to have an informed citizenry.
Perhaps even more critical, the federal government is not qualified to project the supply and demand of the workforce two years—much less ten—from now. Trying to do so is one of the stultifying aspects of centrally planned economies (remember the Soviet Union?). Whether the plan is called ready-to-work, school-to-work, school-to-career, small learning communities, or any other soundbite-crafted moniker, it is still a fulfillment of the Communist Manifesto, not the Declaration of Independence or any other foundational American document.
The frightening reality is that codifying these programs will only make an already dangerous situation worse. Even without Florida-style programs solidly in place yet, many students are already finding themselves channeled where they don’t want to go. In part 2 of this series, we will examine several examples of how honor students that are also conservative Christians have been funneled into jobs as bartenders and waitresses. And bear in mind as elections approach that you can’t simply assume a given Republican or Democrat is for or against such programs just because of party affiliation. You’ll have to find out where each individual candidate stands. Educational communism is not a party-specific issue. So be careful not to vote for someone who will add a communist plank to an election platform.
I don't either, except that the public schools can't effectively teach math and reading right now. How will anything else piled on top be any better ?
I think it depends on the child and the school.
For 3 years, my kids were in a good public school. There were lots of Christian teachers and families. However, the district closed the school last year, and we were in public school H*** all year.
I think there are probably okay schools, especially in smaller communities.
It is also very expensive to put kids in private school. Then if you have a special needs kid, it is hard to pay for all of the services they need (you lose services for homeschool or private school). Also, if your child is special needs you may not be able to get into private school.
I really wish that we could get special needs services provided to homeschool and private school students. Of course, I'm also for vouchers.
Bump for latter read.
What is the deal with community service requirements??? I never had to do something like that. Why force someone to do that if they don't want to? Some people are good at community service, and some aren't.
My daughter isn't mislabeled, but she is special needs. She has brain damage. She will go to college. She is great in math, and I have a goal that she will be an accountant.
My daughter has brain damage that has affected her speech, and it is starting to affect her reading.
I figure accountants don't need to talk much, and my daughter loves math and money.
I would be worried about a school trying to steer her away from college.
Because that way the liberals in charge of the education monopoly can create a pool of slave labor, which they can apply to liberal causes.
"Excuse me ??? Hertz can't use high school grads to man their counters ?"
I've lately been looking at the job offerings in my area. It seems that in the eye of employers a college degree is the equivilant of a High School diploma now. Boulder county wants a Forest Ranger who must have a degree and they only want to pay $16 Hr. to start. On the other hand the school district has three "Diversity Co-ordinators" that make $80k. Go figure.
Does volunteering for the minutemen qualify as community service? I think it would be a wonderful service opportunity.
My youngest son was classified as a "slow learner" in first grade. Ever after, he had a tough time in grade school. It wasn't until he got to high school that the curse was lifted and he was able to show what he really could do. He subsequently finished college and a masters degree, and has a highly technical job with a defense contractor.
I dread to think what would have happened had he been slotted into some low-level job at age 14.
Read it again. They're not talking vo-tech schools, they're talking all public schools and all kids. This includes academic subjects as well as trades. Don't you think kids in h.s. should get a more rounded education ? Those who don't want to do academics already have the option of vo-tech.
Did you read the article about Los Angeles graduation rate of 44% ? They could probably keep half of the dropouts in school if they had enough voc ed programs to go around.
Exactly - and these are the same people who think they can tell at age 13 or so what your kid should do with the rest of their life. It makes me hopping mad and really fearful at the same time.
The problem as I see it is even if your current school has good teachers, the curriculum is the same garbage that other not-so-good schools teach and rising above the curriculum means you need those good teachers. Obviously, to me, your old school was bucking the system, which is maybe one reason it was picked to close.
The incidence of school administrators being entirely unconcerned with academic achievement is frightening.
In PA they classify kids with messy lockers as learning disabled - disorganization - and want to put them in special ed, totally ignoring the fact that the kid may be highly gifted in areas other than organization.
What I find most offensive is the lack of respect for the individual. If you aren't part of a group, you are nothing.
I think we just all need to be supporting vouchers. Some kids could go into schools where they teach vocations. However, it is all by choice.
Yes I did. And, the ones who did graduate - how well were they taught anything ?
They might keep these kids in school if they taught the kids how to read by 3rd grade.
I had a great-uncle who dropped out of school after 4th grade (in 1914). He went on to be very successful as a general contractor up until he retired in 1980. However, in those days, by 4th grade you were reading at what today is an 8th grade level, with math skills the same.
In the homeschool community a lot of people skip 7th and 8th grades and put the kid right into 9th grade work after 6th grade because there is very little in today's curriculum that is learned between 6th and 9th grades.
The problem with the schools is the unions, unions are leftist, communist leaning. It's the lack of diversity in the ideology of the teachers. I see nothing wrong with more vocational schools. Vocational schools should be run by private corporations to save money and provide better results.
My daughter had an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) because she has brain damage. It is supposed to guarantee that her education is tailored to help her based on her special needs. You do not know how many meetings I went to where the staff would say (we don't do that here).
I do believe our old school was bucking the system and it contributed to why it closed.
I never knew disorganization was considered learning disabled. I'm sure I'd fall under that.
I don't think it will work that way, although it's something to be guarded against. Everyone will have to take core courses, English, History and a minimum amount of math and science. It's the electives that are used to prepare the student for college, tech school, or directly for a trade. That's the way it was in the 60's in flyover country, and it seemed to work pretty well. In Texas there no longer are much in the way of "shop" or trade school type classes. I think that's a disservice to all the students. Many engineers to be, including this old cat, took those "shop" classes, rather than an extra study hall or something like World Literature. I was looking up one of my classmates, who like me took as much "electronics shop" as we could. He's now a Principal System Engineer and you actually get hits on him when you "Google" his name. I'm a Senior Research Engineer with an engineering and research outfit.
Unfortunately, special ed in most public schools is a trap to get more tax dollars out of the state and feds for these kids. You have a true "problem", but so many kids do not. Disorganization - the "disability" that time usually cures.
Here in my new SD, 24% of all kids in the SD are in special ed ! Unbelievable. Only 1% is for gifted ed, and that's only in high school. I put the high number down to the fact that there are a lot of illegals in this area and anyone whose 1st language is not English automatically goes into special ed.
The Special Ed kids are getting special job-training attention to help them decide where to work/ what to do. I just don't have a problem with VoTek stuff. (Rabid homeschooler, by the way).
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