'The flight from public schools'

'The flight from public schools' November edition to feature in-depth look at homeschooling revolution

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: October 26, 2002 1:00 a.m. Eastern

A devastating look at the current state of public schools in America – and the resulting revolution in homeschooling – is the topic of the upcoming November 2002 edition of WND's acclaimed monthly print magazine, Whistleblower.

Titled "THE FLIGHT FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS," the issue documents the increasingly bizarre curricula (from "jihad games" to "celebrating the dead"), notorious "zero-tolerance" discipline (suspending children for playing cops-and-robbers on the playground or giving a cough drop to a friend) and increasingly overt sexual indoctrination (homosexual propaganda now taught beginning in kindergarten). It shows how and why the government's education system has become so controversial that former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett now publicly exhorts parents on national television to take their children out of the learning institutions over which he once presided – and to homeschool them instead.

The issue guides readers through the fascinating world of homeschooling – showing how home-taught children consistently outperform their public- and private-schooled peers on standardized tests, and are now being actively sought out by Ivy League colleges.

"This issue is crucial to our freedom as individuals and as a nation," said WorldNetDaily's editor and CEO Joseph Farah. "I urge all WND readers to read this issue of Whistleblower – especially if you have school-aged children. I truly believe this special report may change the course of your life and your children's lives."

"In fact," said WND Vice President and Managing Editor David Kupelian – one of four top editorial staffers (including Farah) that homeschool their children – "this issue is an excellent resource for helping parents make the decision, and then the transition, to home school."

The issue includes a powerful essay on the subject by Farah, adapted from his forthcoming book, "Taking America Back."

I went to public school and gained a lot. I went on to a public college. I got a degree in engineering. I worked for 10 years. Then I stayed home to raise my kids. If my kids are as responsible as I have been, then I will be happy.

It's one "socialist" program that I would like to see continue. I would like my tax dollars spent more wisely, and I would like to have the public schools improve.

I also think that it is a benefit for the entire country to have an educated population.

"I also think that it is a benefit for the entire country to have an educated population."

I think most people here will agree with this statement, however many of us don't feel it's the governments responsibility, and many will agree government schools are disasters.

Good luck with your school. I say "good luck" because to me it's a crap shoot. Government run public schools are random, chaotic, uncontrolled child day centers. Some are good, some are good for a while, some have good teachers, then leave, some are awful, some get awful, some teachers do horribly stupid and seriously detrimental things with kids. Some kids are unpredictable, undisciplined. Most everyone there are strangers to a child. Some are obdedient and well mannered.

Who your child aligns with, what experiences they encounter (good or bad) are entirely random and chaotic, luck of the draw if they come out OK.

The children's safety is also random and chaotic. Unpredictable and uncontrollable violence is not unusual.

Parents who want to get involved and fix things are ignored or lied to by the schools, and in many cases shunned.

We believe as parents we can remove much of this randomness and chaos.

Homeschool, private school bump.

A California public school district is allowing homosexual school employees to "come out" in front of children in school without obtaining parents' permission.

A unanimous resolution allows teachers at the Hayward Unified School District to talk openly about homosexuality or to discuss their homosexual lifestyles with students during class. The district's school board says such action is required under the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000.

Teachers also are allowed to include homosexual figures or role models in class and to read books with homosexual characters such as "Heather Has Two Mommies."

The case in Hayward is part of a growing national trend in how school districts deal with homosexuality.

Scott Lively, president of the Pro-Family Law Center in Citrus Heights, Calif., said yesterday that his organization has received calls from concerned parents in Massachusetts, Vermont, Missouri and other towns in California during the past several months.

"It's a national campaign that is being pushed by homosexual activists, and that campaign is to homosexualize the public-school environment," Mr. Lively said. "One of the goals is to create a voting majority within the high school students who would be in favor of gay perspectives.

These are activists who got in positions of authority and use it to advance a selfish social agenda, and, frankly, that's evil."

Not irrelevant: statistics often mislead . They only suggest and help, and are not an unshakeable authority. I see nothing in my local area to indicate that the tide of recent immigrants have much interest in being American.

Ben Franklin, bless him for many contributions, was not known for his tolerance of anyone not from a strictly Anglican (as in Anglo, not Church of England) tradition. He was from three centuries back. I don't regard a quote from him, --supposed to sound like me?--, as particularly relevant either.

We have quite an upheaval to face, culturally and socially and financially. Overwhelming the schools with non-English speakers who are not committed to the American Dream is simply not a good thing.

"A California public school district is allowing homosexual school employees to "come out" in front of children in school without obtaining parents' permission. "

We finally wised up and pulled our kids from public school. Probably the "straw that broke the camel's back" was when a fourth grade teacher brought a display case full of ILLEGAL DRUGS to class to show the kids! I suppose the intent of this teacher was to make the kids "street wise" to drugs so they would know what to avoid. Most of the kids from the class came out of it with "OHHHH, COOOOOOL MAN"!

We complained to the school administration. They appeared to be completely surprised and promised to "check right into it". They said it is only used in high school classes and it is presented by police, not a teacher (even this is inappropriate in my opinion). Nothing ever happened to the teacher as far as we could tell. They probably ignored us and gave him a promotion.

That is just my point. When people grow up on a welfare program they tend to believe it is the right way to do things and the next welfare program is easier to sell to them.

This thought process is what has brought us to the sorry state we are in today. First it was education, then retirement, now drugs and healthcare. Soon nobody will be taking responsibility for themselves. Already the top 50% of earners pay almost all the taxes for everyone else. With the changes Bush made a family of 4 has to make $35K before they pay taxes. They have no reason not to demand more services they are not paying for them.

When kids grow up in a welfare program they see nothing wrong with it. Kids who grow up in government housing think it is a fine way to grow up and think they are entitled to it. Kids who grow up in government schools think it is a fine way to grow up and think they are entitled to have others pay for their needs.

Your kids’ education is your responsibility. It is not your neighbor’s responsibility to pay for your needs any more than it is your responsibility to pay for healthcare or clothes and housing for my kids.

Free market schooling is a stretch for many people only because we are paying for a government system that is a failure and should not be in existence in any event. The sooner the working people abandon the government schools the sooner we can rip it out by the roots and return to a free market system that works.

By supporting the socialist government school system you are advancing socialism. You are teaching your kids that if they want something but don’t want to pay for it they can get the government to make others pay for it. You learned that lesson by being in government schools and you are teaching that lesson to your kids. This is the way liberalism infests the society and expands. They get people to accept one program at a time.

Regarding all the complaints about illegal immigration and deteriorating public eductation: I suppose it's interesting if you're only confronting it for the first time, but for veterans who've been there and done that, one must realize that there's only ONE thing you can do to take advantage of the situation and benefit from policies of which you have no control.

To wit, try and get your children into schools and school districts in the wealthiest part of town. The best course of action, of course, is to try to move into the nicest area that you can afford, but failing that, try and get your kids into a school in that area.

The reason for this is that public schools in upscale neighborhoods are many times better than private schools. Put yourself in the position of some of the teachers who have posted here; they will tell you that it is VERY hard to get a teaching position at a top-notch public school. The reason is that everyone wants to teach good students.

Not only that, but the student body is typically made up of children who's parents have made the proper moves in order for them to attend schools in these districts and are usually pro-discipline.

Last, but not least, the tax system, as corrupt as it is, actually benefits homes with higher propety values and mortgages by making these expenses tax deductible.

Here in LA, even in the notorious LA Unified system, Taft, Penninsula & Palisades are often times finalists in Calif's high school decathalon for these exact reasons. (Many times going up against Beverly Hills High.)

Sure, it may be a racket, but I'd rather be the one gaming the system rather than being gamed.

You miss the point. Government schools have no place in a free society.

But allow me to address our statement that government schools in the “rich” neighborhoods are far better than free market schools before I go on. This statement is not born out by any reputable study that I know of. Nor is it born out by the waiting lists at the free market schools, some of which charge stiff deposits to get on the list. Poor families are not paying these deposits to get their kids on a list that is several years long. It is the high producers who have the income to get their kids out of the failing government schools and into free market schools who are shelling out these deposits. To get your kid into some of the most expensive free market schools, you have to put the kid on the waiting list the week they are born.

The schools that cater to less affluent families are no less in demand. Just about every free market school I know of has more people wanting to get in than they have room for.

If government schools in the better neighborhoods were good there would be no huge demand for free market schools.

But the biggest problem with government schools is the fact that they teach kids that the government will take over your responsibility if you just get enough people to demand it. Like every other welfare program they breed dependence and stifle personal responsibility.

Government schools are the breeding ground for transferring personal responsibility from the individual to the nanny government. That is the biggest harm they do.

I saw the charts you pasted. Good info - but I think it is 1998 information (IIRC). While I doubt that the gap between HS and non-HS test scores has changed much, I am aware that the number of HS'ers has increased much beyond 1998's 1.2MM. Unfortunately, no one can truly assess the size of the HS movement in this country since so many actively avoid being counted (self included).

If you want to get a sense, go to your local church and as the senior pastor about HS'ers in the congregation. I'd slap a dollar on the table that says the pastor could name at least one. Scientific? Nope! But it should give the naysayers something to thunk upon...

Several organizations exist to protect homeschooling. The foremost is the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). They are involved in both national and local political and legal activity surrounding HS'ing. Most states also have a state association that exists to support, encourage, and be legally and politically active in the respective state. Then you have local support groups. If you do not know where to start, look up HSLDA. They can refer you to a reputable state organization who can then refer you to a reputable local support group. Having done this in two different states, this typically works very well and can quickly get you in contact with other HS'ers.

Your local place of worship can often times be a resource as well.

I am truly happy that you are pleased with your choice about schooling. If I have learned one thing from HS'ing our kids for 6 years, it is that HS'ing is not for everyone.

One thing does need correcting. You are seriously deluded if you think that your kids schooling is free. You pay for it every day you buy something at the store, play lottery, or pay your real estate taxes (which is monthly for most people). TANSTAAFL...

I was apparently misunderstood by several at the beginning of this thread, and I would like to clear the air (assuming the offendees are still purusing this thread).

The reference to The Lord of the Flies was my analogy to the public school system - NOT homeschooling. The way that virtually all public schools cluster children together tends to breed an environment very similar to that described in The Lord of the Flies

Having said that, I much prefer the socialization that occurs with homeschooling. My children must learn to socialize with a large variety of children of all ages plus adults.

I liked Tom Smedley's point in his aforementioned thesis:

In the public school system, children are socialized horizontally, and temporarily, into conformity to their immediate peers. Home educators seek to socialize their children vertically, towards responsibility, service, and adulthood, with an eye on eternity.

Consider this: In the workplace, how many people spend all of their time only with people their own age? I constantly work with people both older and younger than I, and I observe this to be true of everyone else around me. If socialization is such an important thing to be learned for the "real world" of adult life, then we should be socializing children in order for them to interact with a variety of people. Public school age-clustering actually impedes this. Not only that, it creates a host of other social issues - the beginnings of which is peer pressure.

Talk to any homeschooler of 5+ years, and you will inevitably find a family that is every bit as busy as any public school counterpart - and typically busy with running kids from one activity to another.

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