Welfare of the Children????

I will not mention ANY names, so don't even ask. I promise that what I am relating is true and I'm certain that I don't even have all of the details.

Public schools have changed through the decades. You have to frame the discussion properly without resorting to emotion and hyperbole. When I say that the schools have changed, I am basing that statement upon my own observations as a student and now as a parent. I am also basing my thoughts on the empirical observations of my mother who was a classroom elementary teacher whose career spanned five decades (then she tutored privately for another few years making a six decade span in education). She could describe changes that would make you cry (if you cared)....

Framing the Debate:

Given; if you send your child to a private Hebrew school, they will be taught that the principles of Judaism are the best and should be adhered to.

If you send your child to a Catholic or a Baptist school, they will be taught that the principles of those religions are the best for governing their life.

Therefore it should be accepted as a statement of fact that if you send your children to Government schools, they will be taught that government is the solution to all the ills of society and that the tenants of big government are to be adhered to faithfully. (Like a religion...)

Note the allegory: Substitute government for religion and you have the same effect.

Schools that used to teach now indoctrinate. Schools that used to encourage free thinking now seek to pigeonhole and categorize. Schools that used to provide broad educational opportunities now turn out automatons who are capable of little more than parroting back what they've been shown. Do your kids learn anything or do they simply pass whatever standardized test your state administers?

Revisionist history is running rampant through the education system today. The very systems that were put in place to ensure the greatness of this nation, the systems that provided opportunity for people to rise and fall based on their merit not their birth title, those systems are being called perverted and biased in the name of 'equality'. In his 1906 novel "The Virginian" by Owen Wister, the author puts forth the theory from the founding documents of this very nation that 'all men are created equal....' however he goes on to define that process as one of creation only. Once we've been given a start, the rest is up to us and is a result of our choices and our actions. Equality is a myth of the liberal mindset and nothing to be chased. Achievement is earned and should not be 'given' by the government......

All of that preamble is to prepare you for the following short (true) story......

There is a school system in Florida that allows students (Jr. High age) to take out 'restraining orders' against other students for little or no reason. These same 'restraining orders' are then used to threaten suspension if they are violated. These orders are given without parental notification and when pressed for answers, parents are told that they are not entitled to info because it would violate the other student's privacy...... WHAT??

What would have been a simple squabble between students twenty five years ago is now a freaking federal case in the eyes of school administrators..... This story reminds me of the 'ZERO TOLERANCE' policies that presume guilt before innocence. IF you have something as benign as Tylenol or Midol in your possession, you are in possession of a controlled substance. Heaven forbid you give another student said Tylenol or Midol because now you are 'distributing a controlled substance' and there is no defense and no explanation accepted.

In other words, there is no due process of law. Do you want your children growing up in an environment where they are cowed by the state into submission and where the rule of law is absolute and not to be questioned?

There are good people working within the system. Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost admiration for those quality, caring teachers who want nothing but the best for their students. I fear that they are few and far between though. They are fighting back the tide with the proverbial teaspoon..... God bless people like my sister (High School teacher, extraordinaire) who still give a damn about individual children in her class. However, a pox upon administrators who care more for 'process' than progress.

To my way of thinking, parents have two choices; Get involved and demand change from the school system. Either be an agent for change or stop your complaining. Your other choice is to 'vote with your feet' and pull your student's out of the public schools. Either home-school them or enroll them in private schools. Vote for candidates who support vouchers if you can't afford private school, but do something.