Posted on 09/06/2009 6:23:17 AM PDT by Freedom Dignity n Honor
Host Tucker Carlson, asked experts, teachers, publishers and parents the same question: "Do you know what is inside your children's textbooks?" From kindergarten through college, we found staggering errors and omissions which may be pushing agendas, hidden and otherwise.
We spoke to the author of "The Language Police," education historian Diane Ravitch, who said textbook publishers censor images or words they deem to be controversial in children’s textbooks. She told us that publishers pander to special interest groups, and assemble bias and sensitivity review committees. These committees decide what words to ban or redefine, and even what images are deemed offensive.
And we examined some college textbooks both in print and in digital forms. We found a glaring mistake in an expensive history book written by Alan Brinkley, Provost at New York’s Columbia University.
And in Fairfax County Virginia, questions remain about what textbooks are used in the private Islamic Saudi Academy. The ISA teaches about 1000 students each year pre-K — 12. Questions have been raised about its textbooks at least since 2006.
This summer, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, ISA’s 1999 valedictorian, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a 2002 Al Qaeda plot to assassinate President George W. Bush.
The ISA is wholly owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and teaches students from textbooks, which according to a report by a Saudi scholar interviewed by FOX News, continues to “propagate an ideology of hate to the unbeliever...
snip
We tracked down two American college professors who were paid by the ISA to review these textbooks. They signed a letter obtained by FOX News that the ISA's 2008-2009 textbooks' do not contain inflammatory material…” One of them sat down for an interview; the other refused.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I was not making a political statement to send my kids to private school. My decision was based on demographics, both of our area public schools and of the private schools I sent my kids to.
And rest assured that no one where I live, including the publically schooled (and I went to public HS) believs in either government medicine or government housing.
Most of us have been where you are at right now, not nationally of course, but where we work(ed) and have had our thunder stolen.
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I am thrilled when I see that an idea that I am promoting is picked up by those with a larger and more effective bullhorn.
Jefferson would disagree, but found no support among the other founding fathers for government schools.
Franklin didn’t found a government school system. He founded a private college, the University of Pennsylvania.
I don’t watch him either but...I happened to see him as I was surfing and watched what I could of it and it was VERY GOOD. I give him credit for that piece.
Yet the arguments for having all three are the same.
I work with people who live in government housing. Like the people who use government schools they see nothing wrong with it because they grew up in that system. Many of the families I deal with have 4 or 5 generations in government housing. In several units there are 3 generations living in one unit.
Had the people around you grown up in government housing with government medicine, they would see nothing wrong with those socialist programs either.
I think you would be surprised at how many people around you support those things. I know I was. I live in a conservative area but many more people than I would have ever guessed want socialized medicine.
I saw this and found it appalling. The NEA is ruining this country!
Are you assuming that learning actually happens inside the instiutional-type school? I contend that it doesn't!
Most learning happens in the home through the efforts of the parents and the child himself. These are the people who doing the hard work at the kitchen table, reviewing phonics as they read to the child, making certain math facts are memorized, and creating a home where education is valued.
It is the child himself who thoroughly studies his textbooks, works the problems, answers the questions, writes the essays, and prepares the projects IN THE HOME!
If it were carefully examined, we would learn that institutional schools are merely sending home a curriculum, grading the projects, and administering the tests. The hard work is done at home. The home habits of academically successful children are **identical** to the home habits of academically successful homeschoolers. What the parents and children of academically successful institutionalized children are doing is **"Afterschooling"**!
I support parents who choose private schools so that their children can have socialization with other children and families with values that match their political, cultural, and religious worldview. But...Studies really should be done to determine how much learning happens in the school, and how much is really due to the parents and child himself, at **home**.
If we knew how much learning happened at home or in the institutional school, it would help parents know if they are getting full value for the money spent. Also...If most learning is due to "afterschooling", then it is **insanity** to think the traditional institutional school will be of any value to the disadvantaged child. These children will need private schools similar to KIPP. ( George Will calls them "paternalistic" schools.)
It’s not like a gun is cocked to your head and you’re forced to go or anything.
The gun is cocked at the heads of taxpayers who must pay for these atheistic government schools! And...These schools may not even be teaching anything! These government schools may merely be sending home a curriculum and it is the parents who are doing 99% of the effective "afterschooling"!
The gun is cocked at the heads of parents who can not afford private school or homeschooling. They are literally are under police threat to send their children to the atheistic, socialistic, and Marxist dominated government schools. If you do not believe this please do a Google check on the words: "Truant and Police". ( Real bullets in those guns on the hip!).
Some parents can afford to use private or home schooling. I call it "ransom". Some call it "jizya".
Finally... Government schools are a **price-fixed** monopoly business that is giving a service away tuition **free**! If private CEOs tried to corner a market and drive out competition in this way, they would soon be in prison! In my county there are **no** private schools! Why would there be? Government is creating a terrible business climate for the creation of a private alternative! Then when there are no private schools, the government threatens parents with **armed** police and court action if they refuse to send their child to these government price-fixed monopoly schools!
I have read some of the textbooks used by my children’s school.
1. The only outright error I have caught was that the electoral college was explained incorrectly in the second grade social studies book. However, I know they’ll cover it again when they get older and can grasp the fine points better, so I let it slide.
2. I was worried about the fourth grade social studies program, because that is the year they learn California history, and there is a lot of room for trouble there. However, I noticed that the teacher used the book itself, um, selectively, taking out the parts that were slanted, or fluff. (I’m guessing he’s a bit conservative.) On the other hand, in doing research for her California Mission projects, my daughter got the message that native Americans were all good and wise, and Catholic missionaries and Spanish soldiers were all mean, so I had to do a lot of explaining about seeing people in the context of their own time, with the good, the bad, and the mixed motives. Luckily, I had the time and my daughter had the interest and intelligence to look at it more carefully. But I won’t be surprised if the non-Catholics in the class simply formed an anti-Catholic bias that will stay with them for a long time.
Suburban sprawl has been fueled by access to tuition-free government schooling. Developers know that once a suburban development is built, tuition-free government schools will soon follow ( with no cost to the developer, of course.)
And...My husband and I like to ski. Countless times we have followed the big yellow prison ( oops! “school”) buses up narrow mountain roads to pick up the children living in multi-multi-million dollar homes on fragile alpine slopes.
They already pay Tucker Carlson...you just been let go during belt tightening....not that they actually paid you anything.
Great show.
My son just started government school (kindergarten). His teacher is awesome. I know this because I have talked with her at length, I have seen her teaching, and an impressive number of other people have told me what a great teacher she is. I know that she is better than any teacher my son would get in private school (and I know what I am talking about).
The curriculum in the public school kindergarten is actually pretty intense. They learn to read and do math at a level that used to be considered normal for first grade or even higher. I am confident that a great deal of my son's learning this year will be taking place in school and it won't all just be "afterschooling".
Are you assuming that learning actually happens inside the institutional-type school? I contend that it doesn't!
I contend that since you home schooled your kids and they are out of the house now, you actually have had no contact with government or any other schools for a long time and this is just an entirely theoretical discussion for you.
I doubt very many parents read the textbooks, at all.
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I do.
Sure, but I also think his show could have been better if he’d bother to consult me. I think I found a few things in my research that would have strengthened it.
>>If you really care about your kids education you will make the sacrifices necessary to put them in Catholic school.<<
Or sacrifice less and Homeschool.
Costs me 150.00 a year to homeschool each child.
Catholic schools in the area are 2500.00 a year.
My older daughter had the world’s best Kindergarten teacher. She was and is still amazing. My daughter was able to shine!
So then she got to 1st grade and crashed. The teacher sucked, the kids were nasty and I pulled her out.
Your K teacher is wonderful. I hope they all are for you. If not, consider other options.
School is about teaching diversity, feel good math and condoms.
I watched it and it was awful. Kids shouldn’t be exposed to all this crap. Homeschool or put your kids in Christian school. Get them out of public school if you can.
IMO, he did just fine.
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