It's not exactly news that public schools are disaster zones in many parts of the country, but it's dispiriting that we get slapped in the face every day with news about just how corrupt the schools actually are. 

Case in point: Portland public schools covered up the rape of a 9-year-old girl, suspending the perpetrators for an entire day. 

Harsh punishment, I must say. 

One day. I can't get over that. Rape. One day suspension. 

Family of Portland girl, 9, file $9M lawsuit against school where she was gang raped in the bathroom - and her attackers were suspended for just one day.

https://t.co/2G0mttT2Sp pic.twitter.com/OMwZiIJHSA

— 𝕏𝕔hi𝘭𝘭iຖ໐iˢ (@chiIIum) April 4, 2024

There is not one bit of reassuring news in the report. If the school could do something wrong, they managed to do it. They didn't punish the perpetrators. They didn't report the assault. They questioned the girl without the parent's knowledge. 

They covered their own butts, is what they did. 

The family of a Portland girl filed a $9million lawsuit against a public school district after the young girl was allegedly 'gang-raped' by two boys in a school bathroom bathroom.

Last month, the family of the unidentified nine-year-old girl filed the suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court and alleged  both the district and a non-profit after-school program failed to protect the youngster.

According to the lawsuit, in April 2022, two male students in the program, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods, at Scott Elementary School in Northeast Portland, told the girl they would 'find out where she lives' if she didn't tell the staff she needed to use the bathroom. 

She complied and went to the bathroom, as the other students followed her, locked her in a stall, took off her pants and each 'forcibly penetrated' her, the lawsuit, reviewed by Oregon Live, stated. 

As she tried to ward them off, the boys made it impossible for her to escape as they took turns blocking the doors, documents said. 

Nine years old. Generally that means she is in 4th grade. A 4th grade girl was raped by two boys, and the school did essentially nothing. 

One day. Suspended for one day. That is insane. 

The father of one of the boys reported the incident and his son and the other boy were suspended for just one day, the lawsuit said. 

Prior to their suspension, instead of getting the police involved in the alleged sexual assault, 'PPS staff undertook their own internal investigation,' the lawsuit said. 

Staff also interviewed the girl without telling her parents, family or any legal representatives, according to the suit. 

"Educators" keep telling us they know how to raise kids better than parents. They put pornography in schools, show videos about how viewing porn is perfectly natural, and describe in excruciating detail how to perform various sex acts. Books are everywhere that "educate" kids on sexuality--how to do it, not whether they are ready. 

Elementary kids are not ready. No duh. 

And when the kids follow the apparent advice--after all, lots of porn is not gentle and loving--the schools protect the perpetrators and leave the young girl in the lurch, unprotected. 

Think about this: one of the boys' fathers reported the offense to the school. He had more compassion for the victim than the school principal did. Chances are he punished his son more harshly, too. He understood the gravity of the situation and took action. The school? Not so much. 

Our education system keeps talking about "Social and Emotional Learning," and our kids keep getting worse and worse off when it comes to mental health, resilience, and behavior problems. It's almost as if the people in charge are trying to make things worse for kids. 

I doubt that is really true; it's just that their notion of what a healthy child looks like is totally divorced from reality. 

To say that public education is broken is, I think, an understatement. Sure, there are affluent school districts that still do a pretty good job, but the general state of the system is that it is grossly overfunded and underperforming, and making our kids fragile. The agenda has little to do with education and everything to do with attacking family structures and normality. 

I went to public schools, and despite being in a "Gifted and Talented Education" program, I found it rather dull. It was more about concentrating smart kids than providing a substantially more challenging education. We benefited from being around peers, but not much better teachers most of the time. 

I know there are some elite schools in the public system, but I fear they are also under attack. 

School choice, or better yet, home schooling are the path forward.