YADA, YADA, YADA, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH
We’re killing the g-schools by not putting our kids in them and “supporting” them:
The phenomenon, as old as the Republic, is a continuing tug between two legitimate concepts, that of supporting the public schools for the public good and that of doing what one thinks is best for one’s own kids…Factor in the traditional magnets of local parochial and private schools that lure families with promises of well-rounded curriculums, sports, and other activities and add pressure from some segments of society for everything from school vouchers to home schooling…”As we weigh various proposals for education reform,” it noted, “we must not forget that Americans developed public schools to unify our nation and to provide for the common good.”
The unanswered question since the early 1800s is whether taxpayers will sufficiently support “the common good.”
The 150-year experiment in the “common” schools ran long enough to prove them incapable of providing that common good. Why should we continue to pour good money after bad? And, don’t even think for a second that we have an obligation to sacrifice our kids’ futures on the altar of the “common good.” That’s just laughable.
4 Responses to “YADA, YADA, YADA, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH”
 Comment by meep March 22nd, 2004 at 3:37 pm |
Many public schools were founded to indoctrinate those unwashed Irish Catholics into good ole-fashioned American Protestantism — and then other immigrant groups. Let’s just say the social engineering aim of public schools have never been benign; currently, the effect has often been to undermine family values while giving very little in the way of education. If we could finally get public schools to agree that their sole aim is to educate, perhaps fewer would go to private schools or home schools. For my own part, my husband and I are masters of knowledge far beyond the level of the teachers in the NYC school system, and beyond the level of most of the Catholic schools around here. Why should we not give our children a superior education? |
 Comment by Judy Aron March 22nd, 2004 at 7:22 pm |
Interestingly enough… I recently spoke to a state legislator at our legislative breakfast – she said she would love to see the federal department of education abolished… now that is what I call a visionary! |
 Comment by Ed Hurst March 23rd, 2004 at 11:14 am |
What better way to promote the good of all than to train up one’s children well? What greater harm can I do than to assure the next generation will be bogged down in mediocrity and false egalitarianism? What my now adult son learned at home is good for America. How sad I was not wise enough to pull him from the g-schools early on. To our credit, he joined me in fighting their idiocy to the very end. |
 Comment by stick March 29th, 2004 at 7:12 pm |
Who and what are these monolithic g-schools you folks speak of? Public education is about the last thing in this country under more or less local control. It is one of the last places where ordinary citizens can have, if they wish, continuous input to the political process. If you don’t like what the people decide should be taught to children, fine, homeschool or whatever. But don’t pretend you are some sort of patriots for doing it…and don’t ask me for taxes (ie: vouchers) to pay for schools I as a citizen have no control over. |