Free Republic

DON'T PICK ON JUST ONE GROUP By Margaret Brogley Because public schools are failing we continually hear that students must be held accountable for learning. Also, the teachers and administrators, and, likewise, the parents must become involved and held accountable. I hear nothing about holding the colleges and the Arkansas Department of Education accountable.Why Not?The education department promotes the programs and the colleges teach the methods used. If the wrong methods and materials are used, what else can you expect but failure in the public schools? For at least eighty years the colleges have taught the future teachers the...

First Things FirstDate: Sunday, January 04 @ 17:25:43 Topic Letters to Editor FIRST THINGS FIRST By Margaret Brogley With all other educational expenses we are expected to spend another billion or more on buildings. Why? What relation does that have with educational improvement? Consider two scenarios... First: I began teaching more than sixty years ago in southern Arkansas in tiny farm village. The small school had no indoor plumbing; we used the outhouse behind the home-ec building. There was a wood stove I had to stoke each morning before students came. I was also the janitor of my building....

EDUCATION THROUGH THE 20TH CENTURYDate: Saturday, July 05 @ 20:59:29 Topic Letters to Editor EDUCATION THROUGH THE 20TH CENTURY Margaret Brogley - July 4, 2003 Today, we have gathered here to celebrate our nation's birthday and the freedoms given to us by our Founding Fathers. Are we keeping them? Let us see if we are, as I take you through the twentieth century of education reform in my own hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Please note the dates and events I relate to you. They are all applicable, not only in Fort Smith but in Anytown, U.S.A. in varying...

Sometimes a single incident can reveal the widespread rot that has affected the nation's school systems as they strive to indoctrinate the children entrusted to their care while neglecting to teach them the Three R's. In Inverness, Florida, a 12-year-old boy was cuffed*, arrested, and taken in a patrol car to jail where he was held for two hours. His crime? You aren't going to believe it! Kyle Fredrikson was walking back to class from lunch when Deputy Tim Langer saw the boy "purposely stomping in the water" after being told numerous times by school personnel to stay with the...

How to make an AtheistDate: Wednesday, September 10 @ 11:36:24 Topic Letters to Editor SENSITIVITY TRAINING: THE MAKING OF ATHEISTS Margaret Brogley Imagine my surprise when I opened the Southwest Times Record of 8/01/03 and read a news item stating that "Arkansas state employees already are required to attend sensitivity training." I have long suspected it was true but had no proof and didn"t dream of ever seeing it in print! My first experience with sensitivity training was while I was in London, England, sitting in the teachers' lounge sipping tea! It was a very mild form; it had...

MEET MARGARET BROGLEYDate: Thursday, May 29 @ 11:47:18 Letters to Editor Dear Editor: Yes, I am the Margaret Brogley who occasionally writes to the Arkansas Democrat GazetteI have been asked to write for Arkansas Publik Skulz and promised that I would as long as my time and your interest permits. Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am a native of Fort Smith, Arkansas. I went through all twelve grades there, then to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for a B.S.H.E. degree, then to the former Texas State College for Women in Denton for an M.A. degree, and later...

Then Came Federal AidDate: Friday, August 15 @ 16:40:43 Topic Letters to Editor THEN CAME FEDERAL AID by Margaret Brogley For over one hundred years the educrats have used the Hegelian method of creating a problem, then offering a solution that is worse than the original problem. Actually, the problem began in the early nineteenth century when public schools were first formed, but the more visible part came around the end of that century when John Dewey gained control. John Dewey was a dedicated socialist and a humanist. Read the three Humanist Manifestos to understand our problems and why...

Just Plain Nuts?Date: Thursday, August 07 @ 07:38:34 Topic Letters to Editor Situation Ethics? Or Is the Woman Just Plain Nuts? by Margaret Brogley 8/07/03 Now I think I have heard everything! This letter is not specifically about education, but the subject has to be related. I am writing about a news item in Fort Smith¹s Southwest Times Record telling of a convicted thief suing the Fort Smith Dillard¹s department store and two employees for one million dollars in connection with the theft. I am shocked! I can¹t find words to express my feelings. Has the person no conscience...

MAKING CHILDREN WARDS OF THE STATEDate: Friday, May 30 @ 06:09:27 Topic Letters to Editor THREE- AND FOUR-YEAR OLD KINDERGARTEN: MAKING CHILDREN WARDS OF THE STATE Margaret Brogley 5/30/03 Dear Editor: Has your state or community begun promoting the enrollment of three- and four-year-old children? The Van Buren/Fort Smith area has -- big time. Our daily newspaper, the Southwest Times Record, 5/19/03, had a huge article about it and was so convincing that I wanted to rush right down to enroll the three- and four-year-olds that I don¹t have for fear I would miss a good thing! The title...