'The flight from public schools'

World Net Daily ^ | 26 Oct 02

[SLB]

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

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

© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com

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."

[SLB]

FYI - Looks like something worth reading.

[SLB]

Not an endorsement for WND. But it sure looks good. I have read most of Bill Bennett's books. They really tell it like it is.

[anniegetyourgun]

Pingaling!

[genefromjersey]

What I want to know is : What flight ???

There may be a few thousand youngsters being homeschooled-(one of my grandchildren is one )-but there are millions and millions of kids in public school.

[Kosh5]

Umm - I hate to break this to you, but there are something on the order of 1.7 million homeschooled children across the U.S. I have forgotten the true comparison, but this number is something like the size of the 10 smallest states' public school system enrollments.

HS'ing has become a big thing in this country. There was a time when it was an underground and sometimes illegal movement. In the 70's and 80's, it gained a more public presence. In the 80's and 90's, it gained public recognition through forums like Focus on The Family and gained a critical mass that is propelling it today.

The bottom line is that the public schools are in shambles. Parents want their children to be taught values consistent with their values - and the public school systems are a very far cry from such values for most parents in this country. The quality (or lack thereof) of public school educations in the past 10-20 years is a documented fact. HS'ers consistently and repeatedly outperform their public school counterparts on every academic standard available (standardized tests, SAT's, etc.).

I will also deal with the socialization issue since someone will undoubtedly bring it up. The best response I have ever heard: have you ever read The Lord of the Flies?

[Pete]

There may be a few thousand youngsters being homeschooled

Actually, the number is closer to 1.25 million and growing at 20% per year for the last few years.

[SLB]

When compared to other school "districts." Home schoolers are about the 4th or 5th largest district in the US. Here in Kentucky there are probably more children being home schooled than are enrolled in all but the Jefferson County (Louisville) district. The numbers should not fool you. One must look at the success of home schooling to understand the real impact on the nation's education systems.

[codder too]

Bill Bennett may suggest that parents take their children and he indeed does offer a K-12 program which is designed for Home School use but....his K12 program is being used in public school systems too, both as an "in house" and "home school" plan.

The caution to parents would be this. "IF" you sign on will your child be required to take mandated state ASSESSMENTS? If the answer is yes, you haven't accomplished your goal of removing your child from the public system. Read the small print carefully.

[Tom Bombadil]

have you ever read The Lord of the Flies?

The one I always use is "what socialization? The kind that occurs on the playground, or the kind that occurs on the schoolbus"? ....you can see the light click on if they are really interested and listening because..... you are right, it is 'Lord of the Flies" in both cases.

[FourPeas]

There may be a few thousand youngsters being homeschooled

Truthfully, we don't know the true number, but it's much, much larger than this. Many hs'ers don't need to register with The State, and therefore wisely do not. Others simply fly under the radar or fit & operate under a state's private school laws.

[netmilsmom]

There is more to what parents are looking for than just getting away from government tests. I am a charter school parent in MI. I dealt with the "Lord of the Rings" schoolyard and hated it. I want my daughters to be taught to my standards and morals, as well as the other children in the school. I don't care if they test her every year, I care that they learn the basics to succeed on the tests. She is learning Latin, and is doing the math and reading in K that the district schools in our area are starting in 1st grade. If I could put her into one of Bill Bennet's charters, which are connected to his K12 curriculum, I would do it in a heartbeat (my nephew in Ohio has his son working through K12's Ohio Virtual Elementary, it is great). Pitifully these are only available through a few states and mine is not one.
I understand that some homeschooling parents want to "unschool" but many of us choose other paths that just want to avoid the loonies in the district schools. God Bless Education Choice.

[FourPeas]

The kind that occurs on the playground, or the kind that occurs on the schoolbus

A family member actually thinks this type of socialization is good. Afterall, it's reality.

[Teacher317]

They think that a parent could never figure out how to get social-interaction-skills involved at the store, at the park, at a nursing home, at Chuck E Cheese, at McDonald's play parks, at Halloween, at birthday parties, at Little League, at dance or music lessons (and recitals), etc.

Go Home-schoolers!!!

[Bob Mc]

"What I want to know is : What flight ???"

Also keep in mind that it is the brightest students that are leaving, and the most caring parents leaving the public school system. The degradation of public schools will continue to accelerate.

[nmh]

"HS'ers consistently and repeatedly outperform their public school counterparts on every academic standard available (standardized tests, SAT's, etc."

That's precisely why states like California are trying to push the truancy crap and get them back in public schools so hs'ers are just as stupid as the public shoolers. It's much easier to control those that operate ONLY on emotions and possess no knowledge.

[codder too]

State ASSESSMENTS are NOT the same animal as TESTS. The state assessments are required by the Federal "No Child Left Behind" Act. They are the accountability factor. They drive the curriculum and I can guarantee you that your child will not be able to "pass" unless he or she has the "correct" worldview and values. The open ended essay portions of these instrumants are the stumbling blocks. Answers based on "your morals and standards" will find your child incompetent by the "federal standards". The multiple choice questions chip away at beliefs by making the child choose the least problematic of several grey area options.

Home-schoolers have outscored many public school students for years, on tests of academic skills. Testing is not a problem but Assessing the value of your child to "their" public government school system is.

[Nam Vet]

"I will also deal with the socialization issue since someone will undoubtedly bring it up. The best response I have ever heard: have you ever read The Lord of the Flies?"

My wife and I give our homeschooled youngest the public school experience by, once a month, taking him to the bathroom, beating him up and stealing his lunch money. heh heh

Actually this little funny was stolen from another Freeper, but does illustrate the stupidity of the 'socialization' cr*p we must listen to.

Nam Vet

[valkyrieanne]

I will also deal with the socialization issue since someone will undoubtedly bring it up. The best response I have ever heard: have you ever read The Lord of the Flies?

You don't want to go there. The boys in Lord of the Flies were *private school* students - an elite English boarding school (which the British call "public schools.") The choir was the worst of all - under their leader Jack they became first the hunters, and ultimately the crazed murderers who ended up setting the whole island ablaze.

I happen to like William Golding's writings very much, but this story is *not* the one to drag out about "socialization" and homeschooling. The boys wind up on the island in the first place because there has been a nuclear war - their plane crashes during the evacuation. At the end, they are rescued by a British navy ship - but the quite plain question at the end is, who is going to rescue the grownups? That's Ralph's final, bitter insight.

While I don't know if Golding was a Christian in later life, he was raised in the church and had a definite sense of original sin (which is really what this book is about.) If you want to really draw an analogy between LOTF and homeschooling, consider all of the homeschoolers in the past two years who have been arrested for beating, starving, abusing children etc. Yes, they are a small minority, but *everyone* has the capability for evil in them, no human system is perfect, and the grownups need rescuing too.

[Jonathon Spectre]

Let me briefly outline the problems in public education:

First, you must understand that students = $. Period. Schools in my area go to a great deal of trouble to document on paper each and every day a student attends so that if the state department of education demands it they can present proof the student was there. This is because students = $.

So, now that we know that students = $, we can see that the overriding concern of every public school is to GET and KEEP as many students as humanly possible. Now, the simple fact is, many students do not deserve or need to be in school. One such story follows:

I had a student named Mr. Laflin. I noticed that Mr. Laflin did not ever do any of his work and did not seem to care about school at all. He was relatively good when I had him but other teachers told me he was a mortal terror, constantly doing absolutely everything he could to disrupt class and ruin the education of the other students. So I asked him one day, "Mr. Laflin, don't you care about your education? Don't you care about school at all?"

His response, verbatim: "I got two more years of this school sh*t and then I'm through. My dad lays stucco, I'm gonna lay stucco, and I don't need this school and math sh*t for that."

And you know what? He's right! He's 100% right. So because he does not care about school, because it does not matter one whit to him whether he succeeds or fails, school ceases to become about education for him and becomes a playpen. Mr. Laflin will proceed through the public education system, disrupting every single class he ever takes and bothering the students who are actually trying to succeed. He will be sent to the discipline office time and time and time and time and time again, but he doesn't care. It's a game to him, and having an almighty "administrator" tell him he's bad makes no more difference than a teacher telling him he's bad. He doesn't care. He doesn't want or need to be there.

But remember! Mr. Laflin = $. His school will lose between $5-6000 if he is expelled, so don't expect that to happen unless he actually physically tries to kill someone. Otherwise he will be returned to class each and every time to continue his disruption of other students' education.

I had another student named Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor is classified as emotionally-handicapped. He's a seventh-grader with the maturity level of a two year-old. He does nothing in class but try desperately to draw all attention to himself in any way he possibly can, be that screaming or running around the room or bothering the other students in the regular classes he's in.

Regular classes! What?!?! Well, you see, Mr. Taylor's mom "doesn't believe" her son is emotionally-handicapped, and so she refuses to allow him to be placed in emotionally-handicapped classes. And the school isn't going to expel him because? Can anyone tell me what Mr. Taylor =? I bet you can. And so Mr. Taylor will go on ruining every class he's in until he fails to graduate high school three or four years in a row. In that time I figure he'll probably impact the education of between 700 and 1000 students.

You see, the problem with public education is that it's a racket. The further away you get from actually having to teach, the more money you make! I've talked to plenty of teachers who are only teaching in order to someday become "administrators" making $70,000+ a year and essentially doing nothing but manipulating paperwork and attending "education seminars". Meanwhile a first year teacher responsible for teaching 180+ kids a day, responsible for educating the next generation of Americans, is making $21,000 a year.

Can it be fixed? Probably not. That would require making actions have consequences, for instance, the third time you're sent to the discipline office in a year you are expelled permanantly. Go stand on a street corner. Nobody cares anymore. But guess what? Students = $. And as we've all seen, public education is all about $. So don't expect this to ever, ever happen.

JS
Who's cynical, and realistic

[Mamzelle]

I've watched a local public school system start feeling the stresses of a sudden influx of illegal immigration. They don't have a clue of dealing effectively with the machismo problem -- of trying to educate foreign males who do not come from a background that values education. They need some consulting with Texas superintendents and principals. Girls are not troublemakers, are passive, just sit in classrooms dreaming of babies to come.

What's also tough is that these boys are short and squat and do not show signs of being socialized and assimilated through shared sports activities. That is, they're not going to get any loyalty to the system through school athletics OR academics. And the state will do anything in its power to keep them from dropping out and getting jobs. That means they'll be in for the maximum time sapping energy and resources just to keep them from cutting up, taking from those who could use what is offered. If they want to drop out, let them. The white elites wanted them to come in the first place because those same elites won't mow their own lawns or clean their own pools!

Our leadership assumes that this new population wants to assimiliate, that the best policy is generosity, but my suspicion is that the newcomers just want an outpost of Little Mexico with free American services. In this town, there're new businesses with little Mexican stores, a kind of little Mexican bank which provides services I don't understand, a hairstylist and bakery. Commendable entrepeneurship, I suppose, but this means the new immigrants are not supporting the exisiting business of the town. I'd like to know how careful they are about paying state taxes...There are rumors and stories of a "godfather" that keeps the behavior of the immigrants in line--so they have their own system of police and justice. They will not come to local churches despite repeated and heartfelt invitations. They don't have to mingle with, cooperate with, or get to know any of the American people they live among. They do have a soccer team system that is only for Mexicans that plays at the local park. Keep in mind that this is a small town--the immigrants came in large numbers, and quickly, and now make up a significant percentage.

And no one dares talk about it, or the implications.

What's different about immigration today is that there's no desire among immigrants to be American. At best, this is just plain *rude*.