Posted on 06/13/2021 5:14:48 AM PDT by Kaslin
The pandemic lockdowns have created quite a conundrum for conservative parents. On the one hand, we’ve been on the front lines of the (maskless) school reopening movement. On the other hand, as schools do reopen, our children are encountering a level of sexual and political indoctrination never before seen.
Or maybe we just hadn’t noticed. Ironically, it was the closures themselves, championed by the left, that helped bring the abuses to light. Parents peeking in on their children’s Zoom lessons found themselves appalled at what was being taught: critical race theory, BLM-inspired anti-police rhetoric, “LGBTQ” propaganda.
The backlash has been swift and harsh, with parents across the country crowding into school board meetings to demand an end to this nonsense. Meanwhile, conservative pundits like Matt Walsh and Dennis Prager have been arguing that the public schools are irreparably broken and the best thing conservative parents can do is get their kids out as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, for many parents, that’s not as easy as it sounds. For one thing, in many parts of the country, the public schools are still pretty good. Families are invested in their local schools and loathe to just up and leave.
Even for those who agree it’s time to go, where exactly will they go? Home schooling is growing in popularity, especially since many parents (again, ironically) discovered during the closures that they could educate their children just fine on their own. But for other parents, especially in two-career families, home-schooling simply isn’t practical.
Then there are private schools, which present their own set of problems. First, they tend to be prohibitively expensive, far beyond the ability of most families to pay, especially if they have multiple school-age children. Besides that, many private schools these days seem beset with exactly the same problems facing their public counterparts. In many cases, they, too, have become “woke” indoctrination factories. So what do families gain for their money?
I would like to propose a possible solution: that communities, churches, and other charitable organizations band together to create a new kind of private school. I confess that this suggestion is not original. It was inspired by a recent article by Trevor Thomas atAmerican Thinker. I would, however, like to give the idea an even wider airing while also adding a few wrinkles of my own.
In this battle for the heart and soul of America, we conservatives are at a distinct disadvantage, with very few institutions on our side. We do not have the mainstream media (although we do have our own media, thank goodness). We do not have the entertainment industry (although the folks over at Daily Wire, among others, are working on that). We do not have the government bureaucracy. We do not have the education system--yet. We no longer even have corporate America.
What we do have are churches. Granted, more and more Christian churches these days are also becoming “woke,” which is to say no longer Christian. But there are still many good, conservative churches. We also have money, in that many of us are at least moderately well off. Indeed, we already give so liberally to our churches that many congregations are blessed with large, modern facilities.
What I propose is that we use that money and those facilities to create a network of affordable private schools. I know many churches already sponsor schools, but like most private schools those tend to be expensive and exclusive. What I’m suggesting is that, as Christian conservatives, we put our money where our mouth is and make those schools accessible to nearly everyone by subsidizing the cost of attendance.
Families that could afford to pay, of course, would do so. But for everyone else there would be needs-based scholarships, with the churches themselves—which is to say, the parishioners—picking up the tab. Churches could also conduct capital campaigns to raise funds in the community.
And of course, it would be ideal if states would pass so-called “voucher” laws, allowing parents to take their tax money out of the public school system and give it to the private school instead. But I don’t think we should hold our breath waiting for that to happen. We will probably have to fund this initiative ourselves.
The good news is that we can. We have the means, if we’re willing to use it.
I’m also thinking that these new private schools, though sponsored by churches, should not be exclusively Christian. They shouldn’t require a statement of faith to attend (or teach), nor should they seek to indoctrinate students into any particular religious tradition. That would only keep people away. The schools should focus, instead, on providing an excellent, college-preparatory education in the arts and sciences while also teaching the truth about American history.
A potential roadblock would be accreditation, since accrediting bodies nationwide are as responsible for the recent radicalization as the local schools themselves, perhaps more so. When accreditors insist that schools institute “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” initiatives, for example, the schools themselves have little choice in the matter.
The solution would be for these community-based, church-sponsored private schools to form their own national accrediting body—focused, again, on high-quality education, not social engineering. Hopefully, many private religious colleges would recognize that accreditation initially, and over time, other colleges would follow suit as the excellence of the graduates, compared to their public-school peers, becomes apparent.
Obviously, there are many more details to be hashed out than I can cover in a short column. My goal is to help Trevor promote the idea in the hope that those in a position to do so will take it and run with it. I believe if we are ever going to win the culture war, there are certain things we just need to take into our own hands—and the education of our children is at the top of the list.
We definitely need to re-think education.
A consortium, or Lyceum. Who wants to teach? Who wants to learn? What will be the content? The price? Must be in person. May be short term or long term. Vetting of teachers essential. Travel necessary. Compensation may be bartered. No government intervention or involvement. A free association that is self governed. Classes no more than 12 students at a time.
The answer is simple. You have to communicate with every family in your district and, to quote scripture, find out “who is on the Lord’s side?” Then you go down to the board of Education and ORDER them to do what you want. You tell them that you want prayer back in school; that you want your children to be taught to love this wonderful country. YOU pay the bills! If some sniveling miscreant doesn’t want to pray give them ear plugs and blinders! Let them start their own schools. It’s time to fight, and win the war to save America.
Get your kids away from these cesspool public schools.
I agree.
The author has some interesting suggestions. However, as soon as there is a “school” attended by more than one family, there is going to be conflict about priorities, procedures, payments, and everything else.
Moving these conflicts out of the political sphere and dropping them on those immediately involved is a good thing in itself, in my opinion, but one shouldn’t imagine it will be anything but a blood sport.
“Unfortunately, for many parents, that’s not as easy as it sounds. For one thing, in many parts of the country, the public schools are still pretty good.”
Stopped reading at this point. At best they ‘appear’ pretty good to parents, but unless they buck ALL the rules*, they are still run by the worst of the Left - and I don’t know of that happening.
*starting with NOT hiring anyone with an ‘education’ degree, no tenure, prohibiting the use of Leftist curriculums, etc.
We definitely need to attend the next school board meeting and raise hell!
When my daughter’s child gets to be school age she’ll home school but she is looking into co-op deals.
In her area are also sports and athletics for home school kids.
In the old ethnic neighborhoods of large cities in the early 20th Century, Catholic churches set up low-cost schools. They were staffed by nuns and priests who took vows of poverty, so the costs were very low.
Many private Christian schools have their own “woke”: Young Earth doctrine. If you don’t agree, based on 3 pages written 5000 years ago for goat herders, that the Earth is less than 10000 years old they will ridicule and reject you, berating objective science.
That’s making it really hard to continue kids there.
He is advocating building what already exists by denying that the removal of G_d from school is the root of the problem. He wants to build a system that mirrors the existing system. No G_d, mainly secular teachers, humanist values.
IOW, a complete waste of resources because he wants to pander to the irreligious.
That’s what got us INTO this mess!
There is absolutely nothing to be gained by politicizing knowledge.
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