Control over the message; it begins when we drop our children off at school.
posted at 8:24 am on April 12, 2009 by Keemo
The relationship between Unions and the Democrat Party has been well documented. Far too many Americans remain unaware of just how this partnership effects their personal lives, and plays a significant role in their homes. I’ll speak from my own experience, and my focus will be on the public education system.
Both of my sons attended a highly ranked public school district in So. California. My wife and I put the education of our children at the top of our priority list. As is the case with most families, we taught our children the human values that we held close to our heart. We taught our children the principles of life that we deem important for their character, as well as their ability to achieve peace within their own spirit. Like most parents, we also wanted balance in their lives. We got our children involved in youth sports, scouting, music, hiking, and other outdoor activities.
The day came, when we started to notice some conflicting information coming home with our children by way of teachers. What really bothered us, is that this information didn’t really have any connection with what we were sending our children to school for; reading, writing, math, science, history. No, quite the contrary. Our third grader came home telling us all about how to put a condom on a cucumber, and describing a Vagina in detail. Wow, that got our attention. We then started paying closer attention to exactly what kind of subject matter was taking place in school. What we discovered was shocking, at least to us. A leftist agenda was taking place so blatantly, it was like a total rewrite of history. American heroes were limited to Democrats, with great Americans such as Ronald Reagan reduced to rubbish. We could take most any subject being taught in any classroom, and the subject matter was tilted severely towards a Liberal mindset. Global Warming was getting shoved down the kids throats relentlessly, with no opposing thoughts allowed. Democrat politicians were being raised up, and branded as the smart people, while Republican politicians were reduced to everything negative. What really got under our skin, was simply that we didn’t send our kids to school for these reasons; we send our kids to school for reading, writing, math, history, and science. We spend but a few hours a day with our kids during the week. Teachers spend 6-7 hours a day with our kids. The perfect storm!
My 11th grader was forced to watch Al Gore’s propaganda movie for the 3rd time in his Science class recently. The teacher told the class that 98% of the worlds scientist agreed with the data described in this movie. The class was then issued an assignment to write an essay about Global Warming and the harm being done to the planet by humans. My son (with my help) wrote a wonderful rebuttal, dozens of pages long, with dozens of articles taken from science data available on the internet. My son tried to have a conversation with his teacher about a specific story he printed out that came from the NASA website, and his teacher simply said “that report was bought and paid for by a big oil company.” That was the end of the discussion, as this teacher would have no part of opposing dialogue.
What are we to do about this? This administration is beholding to the Teachers Union, and is plotting a way to make any alternate form of education off limits, thus forcing our children into the public school system where the brainwash is controlled. School vouchers, home schooling, private schools tied to a religion; all on the chopping blocks. Remove all choices from the parents! Is this what we want from our government?
Here is a link to a WAPO story that is a sign of where we are heading under this administration.
I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on this subject.
Blowback
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Just skim over this sometime if you like. Have a nice evening.
Keemo on April 13, 2009 at 9:46 PM
surrounded on April 13, 2009 at 10:09 PM
What, we can’t post links in this venue? Heh, sorry.
surrounded on April 13, 2009 at 10:09 PM
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classed.html
surrounded on April 13, 2009 at 10:10 PM
No private schools do not cost more. Taxes fund the government schools. That cost is spread out among all tax payers in the state/district whether they have children who attend schools or not and over the tax payers lifetime.
Any argument for government schools is pointless when the Boulder Valley School District has a 1/4 million dollar catering budget for the administrative staff, yet they cannot find the money to keep teachers on staff.
jdkchem on April 13, 2009 at 10:12 PM
What Japanese Schools are Doing Right
jdkchem on April 13, 2009 at 10:13 PM
A couple years ago at age 11, my niece went to a dress-up sleep over, she dressed as a beatnik. The indoctrination starts way before kids start school, check out the cartoons these days. It starts with showing ‘Dad’ as a useless idiot who needs kids to help him along. It really is evil what they are doing to our kids.
abinitioadinfinitum on April 13, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Parents should arm themselves with information on their childrens’ school curriculum. Each school decides the curriculum in advance of the starting year and the info will be available at the school or district office, and is there for anyone willing to look.
Get your copy as early as possible. Use it if a teacher/school strays off course. Questions/comments can be directed to the school district (put in writing) if something is troubling to parents.
Example:
Dear XYZ School District:
What is the XYZ policy for teaching how to apply condoms to 3rd graders? Is this policy mandated by State law?
Concerned Parent
Also, let other parents/taxpayers know about the details in your school’s curriculum (& board policy). Bring it out in the open for others to see….
Great article Keemo!!
TN Mom on April 13, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Are you quite mad? Ima math/physics major, an ill tell you right now, if you can do high order mathematics you can make 4x as much doing it as teaching it. Education degrees are not mandated by unions, but by the college of education and the state board of certification.
lol
You dare quote Heinlein to meh?
So dated.
I much prefer Richard Morgan.
strangelet on April 13, 2009 at 10:50 PM
I was raised by commies. They always told me “honey, all we need to change the world is one generation of teachers, reporters and government leaders.” They were right. They’ve had 2. The solution? WE NOW NEED a couple of generations of teachers/professors, journalists, and politicians. The problem? The left will do anything/say anything to brainwash/get their point of view across, where most conservatives insist on integrity and truthfulness. Plus, our way of life is harder, a meritocracy always is. So the left lies and says “Look at those rich guys! They have what is rightfully yours! LET’S GO GET IT FROM THOSE B*STARDS!” where we say “Look at the success of that group. How did they do that? How can we emulate them? Pk, they worked hard, let’s do that.” What is easier to sell to the weak?
JustTruth101 on April 13, 2009 at 11:12 PM
Here’s my 2 cents:
1. The public school system is not a failure, as a matter of fact it is a raging success… It’s intended purpose… to force children out of the home, into a fake social order and to endear them to the will of the state.. Read Horace Mann.
2. Look what several generations of publicly schooled children have become.
3. The Federalist Papers were written for an 8th grade reading level before the public school system was created. I’ll say it again, public (and most private schools using the same “school” model) do not really educate, they indoctrinate. The last thing they want to teach a child is how to think…. Note that most curricula is outcome based.. and not designed to create a thinker, and a learner..
4. The school model crushes the spirit of most kids, they are not tailored to the child’s learning style or interests.
5. In my state (Alabama) the head of the teacher’s union said that the teachers union does not care about the children they don’t pay union dues.. as soon as the children pay union dues they will start to care.
6. Most states spend about 12k per child per year for “education” if I had 1/2 of this money to educate my kid, I could give her a great education to include art, music, dance lessons, awesome field trips, books, books and more books, and save up enough money to send her to any college for all 4+ years and buy her her first home..
It cost me 35.00 to teach my dtr to read (including library fines) the grammer book I will use will cost 22.00 (new) and will last several years. It does not cost money to get a good education… If you read well, write well and speak well you can do anything..
7. In most California school districts, the school can take your child out of school for “medical” appointments without the knowledge or consent of the parents medical services can include ADD medication, birth control and abortion services. I do not want my child’s school to be taking my child anywhere without my permission..
8 Remember who is teaching the teachers… Bill Ayers comes to mind first… As he has admitted, he has not changed his radical views, he has merely found a new forum. Bill Ayers is “highly regarded” as a professor of education.
in sum, homeschool, read Charlotte Mason, The Well Trained Mind (Classical), Look into Unschooling, and variations of these… teach your children to read, write, speak, think and love to learn, let them follow their interests, not every child is going to go to college, they may just want to build stuff or fix stuff and there is nothing wrong with that… After all Thomas Edison was a great builder/fixer.
Homeschooling can work with any schedule.. who said that you have to learn from 8 to 3… I teach a few hours a day and we are always, always learning.
kringeesmom on April 13, 2009 at 11:31 PM
I agree with much of what you said. It’d behoove parents to look at the origins of our public education system and the methods and philosophies used within it. It’s interesting now, mainly from an art of war perspective, how economic Marxism and cultural Marxism have now come together. (Economic: poor vs. rich; Cultural: changing the fabric of the nation via state-run education and the cinema.) I’ve posted before these quotations from the architects of the subversion that’s been taking place for the past century, but it bears repeating.
“By psychopolitics our chief goals are effectively carried forward. To produce a maximum of chaos in the culture of the enemy is our first most important step. Our fruits are grown in chaos, distrust, economic depression and scientific turmoil. … With it you can erase our enemies as insects… Use the courts, use the judges, use the Constitution of the country, use its medical societies and its laws to further our ends. … And bring to Earth, through Communism, the greatest peace Man has ever known.” ~ Lavrenti Beria, Lenin University, in a 1933 address to a group of American/Marxist Psychology Students
“The family in crisis produces the attitudes which predispose men for blind submission.” ~ Max Horkheimer, former President of the Frankfurt School (Marxist think-tank)
“Literacy is the greatest obstacle to socialism.” ~ John Dewey (“Father of Progessive Education”; taught by G. Stanley Hall, who drew greatly from Ernst Haekal’s erroneous ideas dealing with embryo development)
“To prepare society for psychological control, the very soul of the individual must be destroyed in its youth by disturbing it with evil via forced schooling and media.” ~ György Lukács (learned from Dewey)
“I saw the revolutionary destruction of society as the one and only solution to the cultural difficulties [Christianity].” ~ György Lukács
“A quiet revolution can be dispersed throughout a culture over a period of time to destroy it from within. Mass psychology and media can break the traditions, beliefs and morals and the will of a nation so there is no possibility of resistance.” ~ Antonio Gramsci
“Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. … In the new order, Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.” ~ Antonio Gramsci
“The civilized world has been thoroughly saturated with Christianity for 2,000 years and a culture based on this religion could only be captured from within. By winning cultural hegemony, men could be made to love their servitude.” ~Antonio Gramsci
“Until man is convinced that the world has been abandoned by God, there will be no revolution.” ~ György Lukács
“Of all the arts, the motion picture is the most important.” ~Vladimir Lenin
“This weapon [cinema], which cries out to be used, is the best instrument for political propaganda, which cuts into the memory and may be made a possible source of revenue.” ~ Leon Trotsky
“We are obliged… to make amusement a weapon of collective education. The cinema competes with the church. This rivalry may become fatal for the church. The cinema liberates you from the need of crossing the church door. Here is an instrument we must secure at all costs.” ~ Severneya Pravda
Sun Tzu had it right: “To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.”
Send_Me on April 13, 2009 at 11:39 PM
Sorry Strangerthanever,
I am glad you have read Murry. Ruston would also help you to understand. The Data overwhelmingly support the I.Q. as the basis for educational Advancement. Even completion. Of course you avoided that point in my argument.
Answering that you have read something and them follow by saying that not everyone should go to college is not an answer to why children fail in Public School or the obvious role inborn I.Q. bears in successful educational outcomes. It also does not answer the point about the much smaller class sizes in Washington D.C., in fact smaller than anywhere in the country, with more money spent per student, yet with the poorest outcome. You pontificate, yet say nothing.
If you can not argue with facts or logic, you best answer is to to jump up and down and scream “Racist!”. It will at least amuse some of us here.
GunRunner on April 13, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Thanks for the resource list.
Send_Me on April 13, 2009 at 11:53 PM
Excellent and precisely on point. I have been arguing with a tool.
All, please read “Send_Me’s” Post above. I will go drink some tea and relax.
GunRunner on April 13, 2009 at 11:56 PM
Okfine…..lets acknowledge the truth.
Like Orson Scott Card once said, liberals are the cultural elites, the academic elites, the intellectual elites, the scientific elites. Liberals own both houses of congress and the presidency, and media and film and print and academia.
The only spaces where conservatives are elite are talk radio and churches.
So what do you do about this?
Any ideas?
strangelet on April 13, 2009 at 11:58 PM
My father is a public school Superintendent (and was a teacher and principal earlier in his career). I am a doctorate student and will be a university professor soon-ish. And from the inside of the business, I’m telling you, it is not salvageable. You cannot trust the schools. When I have my own children, I’ll homeschool them (hopefully with a little help from my parents) or do whatever it takes to send them to a good private or parochial school. I’ll send them to university, but I’ll give them guidance on how to manage their own education. (When I went to university in the 1990s, I ended up taking 4 years of random courses and graduating with a degree in “undecided”… because nobody ever sat me down and told me how to design a curriculum for myself.)
And if I need to move to a different state in order to get access to school vouchers or homeschooling options, I’ll do that. Family is important enough to move to another state for.
joe_doufu on April 14, 2009 at 12:15 AM
I’m probably way too late to this thread to get a response, but the above prompts me to ask just where would one go to find a good school?
Maquis on April 14, 2009 at 12:58 AM
Well I haven’t researched it yet, because I don’t have kids yet, but I imagine I’d be looking for a state with good voucher or charter school programs. Fortunately, education is mostly controlled by the state and not the federal gov’t, so there may even be some states with decent public schools.
joe_doufu on April 14, 2009 at 1:58 AM
Just catching up on reading and saw your question about Classical Education.
Classical Education is one of the most popular homeschooling “methods” out there right now. The trends come and go. When I first began homeschooling, the big thing was the Charlotte Mason method, and the Moore method, and unschooling. There are other methods: Principle Approach, Thomas Jefferson education, and the ever-popular “eclectic” which I think most people end up being.
Home education is a very personal thing as it should be. Different parents/teachers, unique children. It is and should not be a one-size-fits-all sort of thing. Education should be locally controlled and home is very local!
All that said, I personally don’t care for the pure form of Classical education. Having seen the results of some classically-educated children, I’ve seen that it can produce “puffed up” people. It is academically rigorous, which I’m certainly not against, but I think there are many other more important factors. Character, in my view, is the most important thing. There are many smart people out there right now losing their jobs. And many smart people who are very lost. In my view, what we need is more leaders with strong character and humility.
I am very eclectic. My foundation is definitely the Principle Approach because of its strong emphasis on American history and government, its method for drawing out common principles throughout all studies, and the holistic approach to teaching (big picture — all subjects are related). I do not think this is the only way but it fits us.
Hope this is helpful. You should be able to find lots on any of these methods via a search engine.
PrincipledPilgrim on April 14, 2009 at 2:10 AM
I see a thousand typos but I’m too sleepy and lazy to fix them. Please forgive.
PrincipledPilgrim on April 14, 2009 at 2:17 AM
Also, rereading I feel like I was negative towards classical as if it had no merit. That is not at all what I meant to say. (This is what happens when an insomniac rambles.) In its pure form I think Classical’s emphasis on academics alone can be harmful. Fortunately, few people are purists. Most of us borrow from several different “favorite” philosophies. I borrow some aspects of Classical myself.
Just make sure that your grandchildren have opportunities for non-academic work (chores, etc.) and some way to serve others. Selflessness. Help them to learn that life is not all about “me.”
The homeschooling movement as a whole, myself included at times, can tend to be a proud bunch. This is something we need to work on. Our results speak for themselves but we don’t always need to remind people of our success, KWIM?
PrincipledPilgrim on April 14, 2009 at 2:29 AM
There’s actually very little documentation that small class size leads to better performance. If that were the case, then the very white state of Vermont, with an average class size of less than 15 and very lavish spending per pupil, would be leading the country rather than being in the middle of the pack.
But school my kids in a public school? Never! And we’re in one of the “top” districts in the state. When the oldest was in public elementary school for a while I made it quite clear to the teachers that I would raise a stink after the first unbalanced curriculum appeared. There’s nothing a principal likes less than someone making a stink and that was all it took.
nerdbert on April 14, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.
- Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
MB4 on April 14, 2009 at 4:17 AM
I absolutely agree with you, Vlad, but the fertilizer is just as important, if not more so.
My cousin grew up and went to school in Eastern Europe, and came to America with her husband just before The Wall fell. Her schooling included plenty of Lenin-Marx theory and 12 years of Russian. Meanwhile, throughout her childhood, she was always told by various members of her family that there was something better out there, that she should try to get out and go to America.
When she finally made it here, it was around the time that I was going to college and soon voting for Bill Clinton (yes, I am a Recovering Democrat). While I was regurgitating and spouting off the crap my profs were telling me and grading me quite well on, my cousin and her husband were putting up excellent Conservative Republican arguments at our family dinner table. Since her arrival, she has worked her butt off along with her husband in various crap jobs, eventually to own their small business and they have raised two handsome young men, who attended Catholic school all the way.
In the end, Lenin’s seed grew into being my cousin’s everyday reminder of everything she didn’t want her world to be. Her fortune was that her mind was consistently fertilized with dreams and ideas that there was something better out there.
Fertilize those kids, people.
misslizzi on April 14, 2009 at 5:00 AM
My wife and I decided early that our daughter would not go to public school. Two years of fundamentalist Christian school and eleven years in Catholic schools left us deep in debt but we would not change a thing. I really don’t know what we can do, alone or together, to change the state of public education. It is like a six-inch diameter steel rod that we try to bend with our bare hands. It looks so impossible you don’t even want to try. And that’s what the NEA and social progressives are counting on.
SKYFOX on April 14, 2009 at 6:31 AM
Great job Keemo and congratulations.
My wife and I planned ahead for this problem and decided to go the private school route for several reasons:
1.Better dialog and access to our school leadership.
2.Smaller classes and great access to teachers.
3.No Federal interference in what is taught in the classrooms.
4.Structure and discipline instituted early on in childhood.
5. We are Christians so a faith based (Catholic school) was
an added plus.
The drawbacks were problems we could rectify in other areas:
1. Lack of diversity ethnically and socially.
2. Lack of encountering “real world” situations and learning how to overcome them.
3. Expensive.
We overcame the diversity/”real world” situations by encouraging friendships out of school and being involved in sports.This has brought some balance socially.
Expenses were overcome by budgeting (few vacations and other perks had to be cut out).
Solid peace of mind in our child’s education has been well worth it.
As far as the classroom discussions and bias.
I have my daughter all over the internet to get her information and encourage her to question and research issues without pushing my political views(as much as I possibly can).
She takes nothing at face value and does well in classroom
and social discussions.
Unless my wife and I see something coming from the classroom that we feel is out of line (Fahrenheit 9/11 for instance) we feel the best way to combat bias and indoctrination is to educate and provide tools for research at home.
Baxter Greene on April 14, 2009 at 6:40 AM
I sub in the highest crime middle school in our district.Kids function way below norm. Teachers keep the peace not teach.
We must destroy the current system and put these students into basic skills classes.
PC and BS reign because parents and the board of realtor’s want folks to think the system is GOOD.
We have a rule,no more than 10% may fail. So the staff has said F@#k it and gives no shows and sleepers 70.Emphasis on GIVE,SOB can not even write his name or understand English.
Col.John Wm. Reed on April 14, 2009 at 6:41 AM
Baxter Greene on April 14, 2009 at 6:40 AM
Thanks Baxter!!! I have a feeling that your path for the education of your daughter is indeed a growing trend in America. This is why home schooling will likely come under extreme attack by this administration, along with school vouchers and any other alternate choices we currently have.
Keemo on April 14, 2009 at 7:03 AM
Here is a related article that you all might find interesting.
http://hometowntourist.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/home-schooling-debate-brews-in-california/
Keemo on April 14, 2009 at 7:23 AM
My wife and I sacrifice to send our three children to a Classical Christian school. We want the best for our kids.
I man the local polling station during elections. Each election day I see students from the local high school government AP class handing out literature for the Democratic candidate. They are earning extra credit from their teacher by helping with the Democrat campaign. I have seen at least 8 of these students, but I have never seen any such students campaigning for a conservative or independent.
One such student told me “All biological life is of equal value”. I asked him “If you are driving a car down the street and had to swerve, and had the choice of running over one child or two dogs, which would you choose?”. He could not give me an answer. He realized that his belief system was in direct conflict with human decency. He had not been challenged on that before. This is one example of a public education.
I asked another student “Where do our rights come from? God, or our government?” He answered “Neither – both of those are social constructs”.
Meanwhile we are getting outstanding results from our Classical Christian school. My 6th grader is learning how to use logic to construct compelling arguments for her beliefs. My third grader is learning Latin. We need more like this so we can take our country back.
ksm on April 14, 2009 at 7:28 AM
I dont know who Rushton is.
I do, however, own this book, The Global Bell Curve, by Dr. Richard Lynn along with several others, including Dr. Lynn’s work on the negative correlation between IQ and religious belief, IQ and the Wealth of Nations.
I think Dr. Murray’s work on “educational romanticism” is far more pertinent to our current school system/ Procrustean bed.
Please note that AEI is a conservative thinktank, one of very few.
strangelet on April 14, 2009 at 7:54 AM
That is Keemo’s premise on this thread, right?
strangelet on April 14, 2009 at 7:57 AM
Last year my duaghter came home from school (junior high) and told us about her science teacher bad-mouthing McCain/Palin in class. It wasn’t a passing remark; it was a full-blown conversation with the class.
The next morning, I went straight to the principal’s office and complained (loudly). A day later my daughter reported that politics was off the table in all classes throughout the school – no exceptions.
Pay attention to your kids, stay involved, and speak up when your parental rights are threatened.
FuriousAmerican on April 14, 2009 at 7:58 AM
Isn’t that lovely?
Gunrunner and I are copacetic.
O frabjous day!
strangelet on April 14, 2009 at 8:02 AM
You do understand….Keemo et al…..that you are not objecting to brainwashing so much as to who gets to do the brainwashing.
Age 12 to 17 is when religious faith gets instantiated in American youth.
You can hardly approve of schools and teachers undoing all your hard work by teaching logic, reason, and (teh horror!) science.
strangelet on April 14, 2009 at 8:07 AM
Keemo,
Great job and congrats on your debut my friend.
Having the privilege of being raised by two great parents, (a father that was a U.S. Marine and a God-loving mother that still carried a big switch and used it when necessary), discipline and respect for our elders was rarely a problem for our public school teachers. But through the 60′s and 70′s, the system for the most part was still structured on teaching the basics Keemo’s mentioned. The curriculum has since evolved, (and in my opinion), disintegrated along with the two-parent social structure of the family unit. With the breakdown of self-esteem and discipline at home, the public educators and their boards of education took it upon themselves to restructure the curriculum (with little parental involvement) by lowering testing standards and installing the “feel-good social engineering” to combat the lack of discipline public educators were faced with. This “style” of education became the path of least resistance for teachers who were dealing with a portion of their classes that lacked the basic structural discipline at home. Teaching basics like reading, writing, math, science, and history became secondary to controlling the classroom in today’s environment.
Unfortunately, through this evolution and transition, a strong portion of public teachers, (and yes, a powerful teacher’s union) began instilling their own personal philosophies and political “disciplines” while further neglecting to put their emphasis on the basics. By expanding the curriculum to employ their own personal agenda’s and inspirations, many have become like the present day journalist, who believe their mission is to change the world. Their self-aggrandizement has elevated them into believing they are all academics and intellectuals, (as strangelet falsely claims), but when challenged with facts and scientific principals based on sound evidence, they resort to their rhetorical and sonorous solipsism’s to sooth their inflated egos, knowing full well they have lost the debate or argument.
This is where many public teachers and their pupils, (by example), have lost the discipline to teach principal basics without injecting their own biased views, and thereby poisoning the minds of youths in the name of public education. Radical change is needed, but I fear for so many, it’s too late.
Rovin on April 14, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Thank you,and congrats again.
Baxter Greene on April 14, 2009 at 5:14 PM
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