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| A Rational
Advocate REASONED VIEWS ON ISSUES OF THE DAY |
"The most formidable weapon against errors of any kind is
reason" Thomas Paine - 1776 |
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FRIEDMAN
FOUNDATION ON EDUCATION
The Economic Case for School Choice Why the Public School Model Doesn't Work UN Poisons US Education with Our Tax Dollars
By Tom DeWeese The Bush administration’s schizophrenic relationship with
the United Nations continues unabated. It is dazzling to watch one part of
the administration rebuke the UN for failing to respond to the threats of
dictatorships to American security while another zealously takes up a UN
program designed to create a generation of Americans educated to believe
in a system of global government.... Spinning
Education You want to know what
liberal bias and media spin are? Try a headline in the San Francisco
Chronicle of October 25th: "California School Rankings Improve." According
to education officials quoted in the story, an "unprecedented rise" in
test scores has been achieved by "shifting away from a nationally normed
test and toward exams that measure what children are being taught in the
classroom." In other words, when school children in California were taking
the same tests as children in other states, their results were lousy. But,
now that we have our own test, results are much better....
By Thomas Sowell (TownHall.com)
The National Education Association
America’s Fifth Column By Alan Caruba What will your child learn about 9-11 on the second anniversary of the
attack on America’s security and economy? On the occasion of the first anniversary of 9-11,
the National Education Association urged teachers to not "suggest any group is
responsible." In suggested lesson plans, the NEA recommended that teachers
"discuss historical instances of American intolerance" as the lesson children in
elementary, middle and high school should take away from the most dastardly attack on
America since Pearl Harbor. The NEA is an American Fifth Column, an enemy within that
uses our public schools to turn children against their nation..... Sacramento High down By Daniel Weintraub (Sacramento Bee Columnist) Californians from all over the
state ought to be watching the nasty fight playing out this summer in the
Sacramento city schools. It shows what reform-minded administrators and a
supportive community can do to try to turn around public education in
low-income neighborhoods. It also demonstrates, unfortunately, how far the
state teachers union will go to block such
changes........ By David Limbaugh (TownHall.com) Since the National Education
Association describes itself as "America's largest organization committed
to advancing the cause of public education," is it not fair to ask why it
spends so much of its energy on political issues having little to do with
education?..... Queer Youth Action Team Demands
By Mike Arata San Ramon Valley
Unified School District officials say they’re not pushing “gay” issues —
just tolerance. But many citizens say that “tolerance,” like “safety” and
“diversity,” has become a convenient smokescreen for radical homosexual
activism in local schools...... By Thomas Sowell (TownHall.com) In an era
when so many uninformed people act as if they know it all, it is
refreshing to get requests from people who want to educate themselves on
particular subjects or just to get the basic education that they feel they
missed when they were in school or college. Many of these people are
middle aged or older. These days, it is very easy to go through college
without getting an education. A recent report from the American Council of
Trustees and Alumni revealed that not one of the top 50 colleges in the
country requires a course in American history and only 10 percent require
any history course at all..... The
Failed Education "Reforms"
By Tom DeWeese 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....... By Walter Williams (TownHall.com) Marc Epstein teaches history at
Jamaica High School in Queens, N.Y. He wrote the summer 2003 issue of
Education Next's feature story, titled "Security Detail." If an American
who passed away as late as 1960 were somehow resurrected, he'd probably
think Epstein fabricated the story. Unfortunately, the story is true for
too many of America's schools..... By Debra Saunders (TownHall.com) It's no
mystery why teachers unions and school boards oppose standardized
achievement tests and exit exams. When they're falling short, they're not
eager to announce it. It's no mystery why students don't like tests. Some
fail. Some struggle. Others aren't challenged. There's no instant
gratification. Some students have such a strong sense of entitlement that
they've come to believe they're supposed to enjoy almost everything they
do in school. The mystery is why so many parents -- especially affluent
parents -- would oppose testing. You'd think parents would be embarrassed
to voice this opinion in public, because it's so anti-education -- except
they are so uninformed as to not even understand what they're
against..... By La Shawn Barber (OpinionEditorials.com) Despite the
latest scandals in liberal Washington--the looting of $2 million from
members of the Washington Teachers’ Union by its president Barbara
Bullock, and the hiring (twice!) of a convicted sex offender and pervert
by the District of Columbia Public Schools, Reginald Robinson,
Jr.--Democrats in the nation’s capital remain “solidly against vouchers”
for low-income black children. School vouchers would give these children
the option to attend private schools. On this issue, Democrats do not
believe in the “right to choose.”..... by David Muir Education
is central to a prosperous, tolerant and civilized society. It is through
education that the individual develops skills, reasoning, confidence and
self-esteem. Education acts as a means of empowering the individual, by
making him economically self-reliant, and enables him to contribute
positively to the stability of society.....
By Thomas Sowell (TownHall.com) They say a
picture is worth a thousand words. That was certainly true of a recent
photo of a little 7-year-old boy holding a sign demanding more money for
the schools and holding his fist in the air. He was part of a
demonstration organized by his teachers, and including parents and other
students, all of whom were transported to California's state capital in
Sacramento to protest budget constraints brought on by the state's huge
deficit. There was a time when taking children out of classes to fight the
political battles of adults would have been considered a shameless neglect
of duty. But that was long ago..... By Phyllis Schlafly (TownHall.com) The
catalogs and magazines from colleges and universities are impressive:
slick paper, full color, attractive layouts and lots to read. But several
items of useful information are usually
missing...... by Debra Saunders (TownHall.com) In 1998,
leftist activists ganged up on Proposition 227, which mandated English
immersion classes for most limited-English students. The Mexican American
Legal Defense and Education Fund and California Teachers Association
opposed the measure. It didn't matter, as the Los Angeles Times had
reported, that in the preceding year 1,150 state schools failed to promote
any limited-English students to English fluency. President Clinton's
Education Secretary Richard Riley told The San Francisco Chronicle the
measure was a "disaster." Gray Davis, then a candidate for governor,
opposed 227. So did his two Democratic rivals and state schools chief
Delaine Eastin...... By Walter Williams (TownHall.com) No one
invented language;it simply spontaneously evolved as a system that enables
us to communicate with one another. Language is never static because in
the process of progress new words emerge for new tools and concepts. Some
of today's new language, like cosmetics, conceal and confuse. Since I've
been on earth a sufficient interval of time to see some of this, let's
look at it..... by David Horowitz (TownHall.com) Back in the
Sixties, Dan Siegel's claim to fame was leading the charge to tear down
the fence around "People's Park," a lot owned by the University of
California which was to be the site of new dorms. The charge led to the
occupation of Berkeley by the National Guard, but in the end of course the
radicals won....Now he is on the Oakland school board, which presides over
one of the worst school districts in the nation. The victims of this
corrupt and failing school system are largely made poor, inner city
blacks....This week, Dan Siegel and the Oakland school board led their
corrupt and failing school in an excerise in anti-American propaganda,
turning over all of Oakland's school children from the first grade to high
school, to the tender mercies of radical ideologues and their rants
against the war in Iraq, the President and
America..... |
The Destruction of American
Education
By Alan Caruba “No school left behind by a few absentees” was the recent
headline of a news story that told of how President Bush’s “No Child Left
Behind” education bill is being “tweaked” because of its requirement that
all students must eventually pass federally mandated tests when, in fact,
nearly 300 middle and high schools in New Jersey fell short. In the third
“adjustment” to the law since the start of this year, Rod Paige, US
Secretary of Education, announced in March that schools would be allowed
to “average their participation rates” over three
years..... “New Civics” means “Global Governance”
By Tom DeWeese The Declaration of Independence is quite clear about where government
power is supposed to come from. It says “…Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.” In
other words, the people of the United States give power to the Government.
Government does not have the power to “grant” our rights. Where, according
to The Declaration, does such an idea come from? According to the
Declaration, such ideas are “Self-Evident.” Or, in the language of today’s
youth, “DUH!”....
Captive to the Orthodoxies of the State
By Matthew J. Bass
An article by Dennis L. Evans lambasting homeschoolers appeared in the September 3rd, 2003
edition of USA Today. The title of Mr. Evans’ article was “Home is no place for
school,” but the title may as well have been, “Parents not qualified to teach
their own children. Mr. Evans states that there are very few home educated students in the U.S.
He then goes on to imply that there is not a home education “movement” taking
place. On the contrary, according to the National Home Education Research
Institute, an estimated 1.5 to 1.9 million children in the United States, grades K through 12,
are home educated. This is a 764% increase from just 10 years ago, when there
were approximately 248,500 students. This is not a movement?..... By Mona Charen (Town Hall.com)
By one vote, the House of Representatives decided last week to give needy students
n the District of Columbia a fighting chance at a better education. Now the Senate
is up to bat. Arrayed against the proposal is a coalition of big moneyed interests.
No, not the usual suspects -- the oil, banking or insurance industries -- this time,
it is the teachers unions in concert with so-called civil liberties defenders who
stand in the schoolhouse door, proclaiming, "Stagnation today, stagnation tomorrow,
stagnation forever."..... Educating for Ignorance
By Alan Caruba
With schools opening their doors soon again, one wonders how much longer the
disastrous system will be tolerated by parents who want their children to
receive a decent education. Instead, the new school year will insure that those
entrusted to its tender mercies will continue to be indoctrinated as politically
correct, but ignorant citizens..... Since there are many ways to design and implement school
choice, it is essential we understand exactly what we are doing and why.
If we don’t understand the precise nature of the problem we are trying to
solve, it is unlikely we’ll adopt the best approach..... Teaching history: fact or
fiction?
By Phyllis Schlafly (TownHall.com) In rare moments when Congress isn't preoccupied with
war, taxes or prescription drugs, it is worrying that American students
don't know any U.S. history. Congress is right to worry, but it doesn't
follow that the federal government is capable of fixing the
problem..... By Rich Lowry (TownHall.com) If there's anything that we all
care about, it's "the children." Almost everything Democratic President
Bill Clinton ever did was for "the children." Republican President George
W. Bush long ago made the slogan of the liberal group the Children's
Defense Fund -- "Leave No Child Behind" -- his own. We will do everything
for "the children": spend untold taxpayer dollars on them, tuck them away
in bicycle helmets, get hysterical about any perceived threat to their
health or safety -- anything but acknowledge the harm done to them by day
care..... TOO SMART FOR HER OWN GOOD By CARL CAMPANILE (New York Post) July 16, 2003 -- A 15-year-old
Manhattan girl whose parents sent her to college instead of high school
has been told by a judge that she can't get her associates degree even
though she's got enough credits - as city officials launched an
"educational neglect" probe against her dad.....
click on
titles to read complete essay
Most of the social problems
plaguing our country have a root cause related to the inadequacies of our
educational system. Recognition of the failure of our public school system
to properly educate our citizens is readily acknowledged by most
educational leaders but their remedies leading to effective improvement of
the system are woefully lacking..... |
