Free Republic

The Kindle and Nook may make for not only the most important advance in reading since Gutenberg, but also, quite likely, a major lesson in unintended consequences. Especially for the educational establishment, because for the first time in history, Americans should be able to envision a future without public-school teachers -- indeed, a future without public-school administrators or state departments of education with their rigidly enforced, politically correct social-transformation curriculum. A future without onerous school taxes, "education president(s)," self-preening school boards, or million-dollar classrooms. But most happily, a future without a single supercilious finger wagging in our face as we're...

Fake reading theory is the slave trade of our era. Conscience demands that it be opposed. A hundred books, perhaps two hundred, have been written on the reading wars. Finally those millions of words come down to a few dozen. English is a phonetic language and must be learned phonetically. Whole Word, the opposing theory, is a mirage, without merit. The great sophistry of the 20th century was to create the illusion that Whole Word could actually work or, one step lower, that there was a legitimate choice between the two approaches to reading, as there is between fahrenheit and...

American conservatives should think long and hard about where they send their kids to college. It’s a serious matter. After all, what can you become these days without a degree? If the Left has their way—if you obtain a college degree in due time—you WILL become a liberal. I fully realize that this has the potential to sound incredibly hypocritical coming from someone who is currently attending college – specifically someone who edits a publication comprised entirely of collegiate writers. But you’ll soon see why the awkward position I am in is entirely necessary.

The Rev. John Becker, S.J., sat at the front of the classroom, paperback in hand, glasses pushed to the end of his nose. As he spoke, he looked intently from one student to another. “This semester, I am going to teach you how to read 'King Lear,'” he said. “It may be Shakespeare’s most difficult play. But it has a powerful message to tell.” When we were done reading “Lear,” the priest promised, we would not only understand it, but we would have learned the secret of understanding any thing written in English -- anything, that is, with a meaning...

The Education Question 1092. Speaking of education, what is the real reason for Catholic antipathy to our state schools? Whatever others may think of our public policy of free, compulsory, and secular education, Catholics cannot in conscience accept that system as being suitable for the education of Catholic children. The real reason is that the religious training of the children is not sufficiently provided for, the time allotted for religion being quite inadequate, even were it utilized. The State system demands the "3 R's," reading, writing and arithmetic. Catholic principles demand the "4 R's," religion, reading, writing and arithmetic; and...

Life sure can be funny.  You have ups, you have downs, and you have to be certain not to get hung up anywhere along the way.  I have been blessed over the years to teach, preach, and write for a variety of venues.  Whether it has been large or small congregations; classrooms with little kids, teens, or adults; a prison facility; outdoors in a park; VBS gatherings; camps; senior centers; online forums and websites, or in someone’s home, the gospel has been spread in earnest.   Sometimes folks grab on to the gospel with complete gusto!  Most times they can...

The American tradition of public education began in one-room school houses when frontier farm families hired dedicated teachers to teach their children. When I attended public schools in the 1950s, I received an excellent education. American schools were rated the best in the world. Those schools prepared me for Caltech, and Caltech prepared me for a wonderful life in science. I owe my career and accomplishments to the great start I received in the public schools. Those public schools were locally controlled and locally funded. Teachers and parents worked together on the content of curriculum, student discipline, and all aspects...

A Virginia company leading a national movement to replace classrooms with computers — in which children as young as 5 can learn at home at taxpayer expense — is facing a backlash from critics who are questioning its funding, quality and oversight. K12 Inc. of Herndon has become the country’s largest provider of full-time public virtual schools, upending the traditional American notion that learning occurs in a schoolhouse where students share the experience. In K12’s virtual schools, learning is largely solitary, with lessons delivered online to a child who progresses at her own pace. Conceived as a way to teach...

So my student gets the report card today and quite frankly expects her high 90 gpa to continue. All of the grades I've seen have been high. She wanted to keep her average, each quarter, above a 90 to receive a special award at the end of the year for never having a quarterly average below 90 in the past 4 years. It's a big deal to the kids, I know it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but it's important to them. Two years ago, I found grading errors (averaging and such) and had to complain...

... In a radical rethinking of what it means to go to school, states and districts nationwide are launching online public schools that let students from kindergarten to 12th grade take some—or all—of their classes from their bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens. Other states and districts are bringing students into brick-and-mortar schools for instruction that is largely computer-based and self-directed. In just the past few months, Virginia has authorized 13 new online schools. Florida began requiring all public-high-school students to take at least one class online, partly to prepare them for college cybercourses. Idaho soon will require two. In Georgia,...

A few weeks ago, several friends and I braved the impending rainstorm and went to the National Book Festival on the Washington Mall. The purpose of attending -- besides the obvious reason of wanting to stand in the company of Hollywood actors, renowned historians and poet laureates -- was to hear David McCullough speak. As one of the nation’s most prolific writers, and author of numerous biographies including John Adams and Truman -- David McCullough is also one of only a handful of Americans to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. While there was always an interest, it wasn’t until...

Steve Perry thinks you've been lied to. The CNN education contributor says that nearly every common premise used to explain underperforming schools -- the challenges of poverty, a lack of parental involvement, an underfunded public system -- is false. As the principal of the Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., which sends 100 percent of its mostly black and Latino students to four-year colleges, Perry argues that every American child can have those same chances. We know what works. The only thing standing in the way of progress, he says, is the control that teachers' unions wield over the...

"There are just 48 male teachers in state nurseries. Education Secretary Michael Gove said more male teachers were needed but they were put off by worries that teacher-pupil contact was a "legal minefield"."

I took a job in the NYC public school system because I wanted to make a difference. I ended up living a nightmare. ... The next day, I told my 8th graders that unless they quieted down, I would hold them after school. It didn't work. Tried again. And again. Finally, as the school day ended, I stood by the door. "No one is leaving." I said. "You're all staying after school for 10 minutes." But eight and a half minutes into this after-school faceoff, Ms. P pushed her way in. "What is going on here?!" she shouted, her mouth...

For those of your who haven't found out yet, American students don't know basic history of their own country. I can't say I find this surprising because no one in my school is really that excited about history, let alone American history. I think this is a major problem with our schools and one that we must fix! The National Assessment of Educational Progress tests students every couple years to see if our education system is headed in the right direction. If we dive into the stats, it's clear to see that students have horrendous history test scores. Only 12...

An Internet forum asked this question: “Suppose you had $1 billion to spend, how would you improve education?” More than 30 people left suggestions, all of them smart, articulate, and sophisticated. But something nagged at me. I sensed there was an unstated premise that all these respondents shared. A false premise. Everyone seemed to assume that the Education Establishment is honestly trying to do a good job. The premise goes like this: These elite educators mean well. They have the right answers. But for some odd reason, they can’t quite get their act together. All that’s needed, apparently, is for...

Thanks to California's newly-enacted "Gay History" law, William Rufus Devane King will finally receive the comprehensive classroom attention that previous generations of educators had so cruelly denied. This thoroughly obscure Dixie politician left behind no major accomplishments or stirring speeches, but he represents precisely the sort of forgotten figure the Golden State legislation means to emphasize in retelling the story of America for an enlightened new generation: many experts believe that King might well qualify as the nation’s first gay vice president. In signing the bill last week, Governor Jerry Brown denounced "discrimination in education” and insisted “history should be...

It is this picture which must inform our discussion of education as we try to understand why the America of 2011 looks nothing like the America of 1911. Somewhere along the way, the baton of proud American traditions, brilliant accomplishments and upstanding virtues became a thing of shame and ridicule. Our schools, teachers and yes our parents have more and more questioned our long-held values, and have substituted expedient excuses for eternal truths.

The following applies to ALL government teachers in a GENERAL manner and is NOT NOT NOT directed at any individual here on Free Republic: Haven't we read many times, here on Free Republic, that there are many "good" teachers in our government K-12 schools. Really? Is that so? Then how can the following be "good"? Every day, ALL government teachers **willingly** go into government schools and **willingly** take a paycheck for teaching their students to think and reason godlessly. The government schools BY LAW are godlessly secular in their worldview. The children must learn to think and reason godlessly merely...

According to a shocking news report, California legislators have enacted legislation that gives the state the dubious distinction of being the first state in the nation to require public schools to include the contributions of gays and lesbians in their social studies curriculum. We can be certain that one result of this ill-advised move will subject kids to a form of what CIA spooks call "blow back" -- an inevitable result of a specific action. When I was a youngster I was teased and bullied for being an adopted child. In view of my personal experiences, should we add the...