The following article might strike some of our readers as a bit of a rant. So if you dislike reading rants, then please just skip reading this article.
It Started With a Letter
The impetus for this article was a fairly cogent well-intentioned letter from a SurvivalBlog reader:
Dear Editor:
I am concerned about some of the information linked on your blog. I’m a Christian, an avid prepper, and a daily reader of your blog. I support your effort to make readers aware of the world around us, and the changes that we feel are to come. I do have concerns when it comes to the negative portrayal of public schools. It is easy to stereotype groups of people, but not always an accurate way of looking at them. There are individuals who believe those of us who read your blog are crazy. We are all unshaven, dirty, live in underground bunkers, wear aluminum foil hats, and hold our illegal firearms as we talk to ourselves. Is this accurate? No, it is not.
I am a public school teacher in the Midwest. I’ve devoted my life to the Lord, and try to do well by my profession. I feel that teaching is my calling from God. I try to make my students’ lives better through educating and loving them. My school is not perfect, but we do many things right. I, along with other teachers in my school, have found ways to teach our students to hopefully survive in TEOTWAWKI situations.
We have a school garden (established years before Michelle Obama made it popular); and have taught archery, gun safety, sewing, preserving food, cooking, beekeeping, and other survival skills. Many of us are preppers, and feel we should teach our skills to our students. We even take turns teaching our skills to other classrooms. For instance, I recently taught beekeeping to the fourth graders, and their teacher taught a gardening skill to my students.
We are just like many public schools, and we never make the news. Why? There is nothing newsworthy about people doing their jobs well. Who wants to read about or watch us? Ratings come from shootings, violence, and the liberal agenda. Many of us who read your blog complain about biased news coverage, but are we guilty of the same thing? I hope not. Please do not categorize all public schools and public school teachers as one, large, liberal, immoral, criminal group. It is inaccurate. Most of us do our jobs well.
I respect a parent’s right to choose the best education for his or her child. And I support those who choose homeschooling. I support those who choose private school. And I support those who choose public school.
Please continue to inform your readers, but realize that showing all public schools and public school teachers in a negative light is inaccurate. Doing so is also hurtful to those of us who do our jobs well. It is best to have a good balance of information linked to your site.
Respectfully,
A Christian Teacher in the Public School
HJL’s Reply: My biggest concern (as a former public school teacher) is that any teacher who doesn’t recognize how the public school sets the stage to undermine parental authority and indoctrinate children doesn’t really understand the system they are part of. There are many who feel the system is benign and only taken advantage of by a few. They don’t seem to realize that we have now basically lost two generations of children, due to this system.
The educational system that drives the teaching of teachers is biased towards public school and against homeschooling and private schools. These teachers don’t realize that they themselves are a product of this indoctrination from a system that readily accepts the anti-Biblical, anti-God, and anti-family indoctrination and “normalizes” everyone.
Practically all social issues of the day can be directly traced to this undermining of the family, and the public school system plays a significant role in doing just this.
JWR Continues: I concur with HJL about the anti-Biblical, pro-statist, and uniformly liberal indoctrination of the “public” schools. I’ve mentioned this before, in a recent essay on discernment. I decided to amplify a few points.
First, Public Schools should more properly be called Government Schools–in part because that is who operates them and the ideology of what they preach: Government as our Nanny from Womb to Tomb. The Government as the Beneficent Provider. Government as the Sole Arbiter of what is Good and Just. Government as the Dictator of the Politically Correct and Incorrect. Our Government as the Sole Instructor of Morality. Government as the Dispenser of Condoms and Birth Control Pills. Government as the Molder of Young Minds. The Government as the Extractor of Taxes on Over-Achievers, Government as the Wise Instrument of Social Engineering. Government as the Judge, Jury, and Executioner of all Conservative Dissent. And in recent years: Government as the Forced Facilitator of Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Gender Equality.
Yes, Indoctrination Centers
Let’s not mince words. The government-operated schools are indeed indoctrination centers. After adopting the Prussian model of education in the mid- to late 1800s, our schools became rigidly autocratic and dogmatic. Our children were taught to respond to Pavlovian hourly bells. Curricula became dictated by State and Federal authorities. Textbook content is drafted by committee and so endlessly churned, so much so that it becomes bland vanilla. In an effort “not to offend” anyone, school texts have lost any incisive edge. Everything in public schools is geared toward The Lowest Common Denominator, so that “No Child is Left Behind”. This gradually dumbs down academic standards down to a nearly moronic level. Tests are constantly re-normed. Grades are no longer posted on bulletin boards. (Oh, no, that would be cruel.)
All About Feelings
And we are now told that tests and grades are meaningless. That even the whole concept of academic achievement is meaningless–lest any child who is sub-par should get their feelings hurt. Oh yes, feelings. Because those feelings are now much more important than merit, or truth, or righteousness. Feelings trump everything else. Most of all, we shouldn’t correct Johnny when he asserts that 2+2 = 5. It might hurt his feelings. We’ve gone dangerously far down the slippery slope of political correctness taking precedence over academics. The now widely-adopted Common Core standards pushed by the Obama Administration have gone so far as to reject absolute mathematical certainties. They call it Fuzzy Math.
The latest bit of social engineering is a move toward discontinuance of having a Class Valedictorian and Salutatorian. Why? Because awarding them will make all of the other students somehow feel inadequate and inferior. Gosh, there they sit in their gowns with mortarboards, on their very last day of High School. And yet we are still worried about them getting their feelings hurt before going out into the world and earning a living. Oh, the humanity!
It seems that the decline of our public schools was gradual, but then accelerated in the 1960s. Rather than re-hash this sad, prolonged saga in detail, I will direct you to the writings of John Taylor Gatto.
No More Freeholders
For us, as preppers with the goal of self-sufficiency, there is one other rarely-mentioned factor to consider: Until the advent of compulsory education, there were no property taxes in most Counties and Parishes in the United States. But now, there are school taxes on virtually every piece of privately-owned property in every county, in all 50 States. This has made “subsistence farming” virtually impossible. As a result, even on land that is ostensibly held “free and clear” of debt we are by law still chronically in debt to the government. We’ve become 21st Century vassals–veritable slaves to the State.
So every family now needs a Dollar-denominated cash income, in order to pay their property taxes. Without that means to pay those annual taxes, we face eviction and confiscation of our land and homes. Thus, there is no more “living off the land” in America, even if you try your best. In the end, we are all slaves to the State. No privately-owned land can ever be held “free and clear”, in allodium. The Nanny State is now our de facto feudal lord. We are no longer freeholders! If you don’t believe that, then just stop paying your taxes and see what happens.
Mitigating the Morass
In conclusion, I strongly encourage SurvivalBlog readers to withdraw their children from government schools and enroll them in private schools. Or better yet, educate them at home. You will be amazed and gratified by the results.
As a starting point, I recommend the book: Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style, by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn.
I look forward to your comments.
I am a school teacher in Michigan. I teach in a Career Center where we teach career oriented classes. I see the effect on the students from all the schools in our region as we get students from 13 different schools. It is amazing. Public schools are indoctrination centers. I ask my students “where do you get your rights?” and without fail they all reply “the government.”
I get students in their 11th and 12th grades. Many can’t read, most can’t write a coherent paragraph and struggle to complete 5th grade math standards that we teach. It is sad.
My wife and I sent our kids to a local charter school but are pulling our youngest daughter out to home school this year. She learns very little at school and, due to recent changes, most classroom time is spent on disciplinary issues with a few “bad apple” students who can’t behave.
I was a school teacher in the late 70s up to the mid-80s in rural OK schools. Yes, there are some incredibly gifted and talented teachers. They are struggling against the tidal wave of …. garbage that they are indoctrinating. I was ostracized, ridiculed, and laughed at; then threatened/intimidated by the Principal, Supt., and School Board on my actions. I still know some great Christians serving as teachers, but they are all struggling, and they are few. Even if you find a jewel among the garbage, the other teachers will have a probably undo what good you did. I had enough in 1985 and joined to USAF to Serve, which I did for 22 years.
As a 36 year old formerly homeschooled child, I can attest to the quality of education I received through my parents, and am appalled by what I see now. I am by no means a genius, but was CHALLENGED academically. It wasn’t supposed to be easy. If I wanted an “A”, and the subsequent reward associated with it, it was hard. But I was speaking Spanish and writing Latin by 8th grade, doing Algebra by 6th grade and calculus by 9th. I could recite the Declaration of Independence verbatim and in its entirety, explain how our constitutional republic worked, analyze Plato, dissect a pig, conduct small engine repair, discuss Darwin, name every US President in order, cook, sew, and shoot. Before I entered college at a well-respected state school, my parents footed the money for me to take a number of AP Exams, which I passed, allowing me to enter college as a Sophmore. How many children educated in public schools have this resume? Again, I am not a genius or gifted, I was simply challenged and FORCED to work to my potentially parents and tutors who did not make excuses or exceptions for me. Public Schools are not an environment conducive to replicating that.
Re: All About Feelings – the “schooling” system carries it even farther by forcing the “feeling” of gender confusion onto all the students as greater or more important than objective scientific observation of sex. Maybe it doesn’t happen everywhere in every school all the time, but make no mistake: if the government is involved, it will control what is taught at some point.
Also, besides John Taylor Gatto, look at how the government schooling system was set up from the beginning to be the savior in Rousas Rushdooony’s “The Messianic Character of American Education”. Those two sources together are a very convincing argument for abolishing the government control and involvement of any sort in education altogether.
I agree with many points made by “A Christian Teacher”. Despite what the public system might be, the way it is implemented, or not implemented will vary greatly. One example I could give is that our local schools have several talent shows or variety shows every year. In every one of these shows that I have attended over the past 10 years, many kids will sing or play instruments and the songs they choose are well known to most of us Christians. Most of which are sung in our churches every week. Some of the songs sung by the school choir during it’s “concerts” twice a year are also undeniably Christian, joyfully praising Jesus. A lot has to do with the area of the county where I am. I know it’s only a matter of time before the battle is brought to us – because the points made by JWR and HJL are valid – and the “shadow of mordor” continues to grow. But for now, I am very pleased with our local schools and administration. Keep the faith, and stay engaged.
In general I tend to agree w/ our hosts about public schools, however I have been extremely pleased w/ the changes I’ve noted in our recent relocation.
For 41 years, I was born, raised, lived, and raised my family w/ my wife and 3 children in Western NY. 2 years ago, my wife and I had had enough, and relocated our family to Eastern TN, in no small part due to the situation in our small town’s schools (racial issues and the ‘bathroom debate’ were paramount). Within 5 months of moving, we were pleasantly surprised by watching our children at the school Christmas concert (it wasn’t called a ‘holiday celebration’) sing songs about Baby Jesus, Angels, and giving praise to God. In a PUBLIC, state/city funded school, during class-time, on a regularly scheduled school day, with throngs of family and friends in attendance. This is in addition to the optional bible-study class and church-sponsored Christmas holiday concert sanctioned and offered through the school (on school grounds) before and after regularly scheduled class.
Perhaps it’s the bible-belt, I don’t know, however I have been very pleased with the public schooling here in the Eastern Redoubt. The teachers focus on academics, and morality, conscience, and hard work are encouraged at all levels. It has been quite a change from our previous home, and one we are quite happy with.
Yes, I believe it is the bible belt. My wife is a retired teacher. We relocated from the north to western Kentucky when we retired. She substitutes now in the local middle school. The students say the Pledge of Allegiance every day, say yes ma’am, no ma’am, please, and thank you. It is much easier for her to concentrate on academics in the classroom. Gun safety has even been taught in her classes by Dept of Game and Fish personnel. Middle school girls are proud about bagging their first deer. The atmosphere here is different. Retail stores play Christian music and clerks say “Have a blessed day”. We have been very impressed with the differences in a positive way.
With respect to the Christian Teacher (CT) in a Public School (PS), CT must realize that HJL and JWR are entirely correct. While recognizing that God does call certain ones to a public school setting, CT must also realize that there is nothing godly in that setting. It is an evil setting where evil does reign, and the CT must realize they are a missionary in a (most likely) godless environment. CT is likely blessed to be in a mainly rural setting, where parents still have not given up all parental responsibility in training their children.
The main issue that CT has not realized is that the Bible tells us that teaching children is the parents’ responsibility. However, the Gov School system has taken over that job, mainly because parents have allowed it, because it is easy to relinquish responsibility to others.
Similarly, my parents have been fostering children for over 30 years. They believe they are doing a great job in loving and teaching these kids, and I will not doubt that. However, they have also developed the mindset that the Government should step in and abdicate the role of the parent, including in the case where there was no electricity in a family’s home. There is a fine line where fostering may actually be helping parents turn over their parenting responsibilities to others.
I am a certified teacher, who has not taught in a PS since completing student teaching, due to homeschooling my own children, but I am open to substituting in the PS if and when God opens the door. I also realize that I will be entering a mission field where I will likely face considerable opposition for my beliefs. That is what I must realize, first and foremost.
Can I hear an ‘Amen!’ This is an awesome article. HJL and JWR are right on. Many government school teachers are good people who are unwittingly being used to facilitate evil.
Government schools are evil institutions of mass indoctrination and bastions of moral depravity. How can parents allow government to control every aspect of their child’s life for 8 hours every day? I gag every time I hear a parent defensively parrot, ‘But our public school is a good one.’ Yea right, different cafeteria, same poisoned food.
To some folks we homeschooling families may be backward, rural, old-fashion people. But we know child abuse when we see it and refuse to allow it!
The two greatest gifts that parents can give to their children are Jesus Christ and schooling at home.
Thanks Hugh and Jim for the great reply.
We’ve home schooled since day 1. Working with kids at a para church organization that were 5th and 6th graders we were appalled at the lack of reading skills. We were literally asked one time how to pronounce the word “the.” Meanwhile many of the church members were asking why we homeschooled and kept telling us “we have such great schools around here.” Why were they saying that? Cause most of them WORKED there! LOL
As survivalists, we prepare for all sorts of far flung situations, yet many of us neglect the importance of educating the next generation. I can’t tell you how many “conservative Christian Patriots” I’ve met who’s kids were liberals. Why? Cause the parents farmed out their education to others instead of taking the responsibility of doing it themselves.
“But I have to work”- yes you and everyone else on the planet lol. Their are plenty of good options like Abeka Academy who has streaming classes as well as DVD classes. Oh yeah, it’s not free, but we all know the value of free stuff right? 🙂
The liberal indoctrination knows no bounds, this is how a 74 year old communist had all that “youth” support during the elections. All he had to do was say the buzz words the kids were brainwashed with and they responded. It’s all about the agenda and “feelings”, facts do not matter and facts from dead white guys are forbidden.
Bill Whittle sums it up here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtgLymwE0BQ
On the tax side, our place is on 20 acres, middle of nowhere, 60 miles from town and the “local” school, we have no school age kids and 80% of our property tax is for the school system. We also have to pay for trash pickup, the trash cans are 26 miles away right next to our mail box. On the plus side they have recently started grading the dirt roads after winter, no plowing in winter.
Your comment regarding Sanders is spot on! I couldn’t believe the amount of my “free thinking” peers responded in such a Pavlovian manner to his “dog whistle” statements.
While I believe JWR and HJL are quite right to be wary of public schools and make excellent points about the overall trends in education (and how dangerous they are) I do not agree that private schools are necessarily any better. I attended private schools from kindergarten through college – and even 20 years ago they were not free from the problems spoken of here. My high school US history course had 9 pages of text on the Revolution and 11 on Seneca Falls. The one-semester course I took on the Constitution and US government structure was an elective.
Despite that fancy private schooling, I learned more history from my father and our family library than all my textbooks.
Is home school the answer then? I’m not sure. Most people don’t have the knowledge and/or resources to teach math and languages and history AND the core sciences AND… well, it is a long list. Collective teaching (you teach my child geometry and I’ll teach yours chemistry) can help – but again, not everyone is going to be able to fill all the gaps.
Gridley-My wife and I homeschooled our daughter from 5th grade through 12th. I thought the same way you do at the time, “how are we going to teach her science, we both stink at it!” We used the Calvert School curriculum. It was fantastic and literally gave you the question for the student, the correct answer and some likely incorrect answers to help explain the concept. I hate math and science and was able to teach her when my wife needed a break, with no issues. Plus, I learned a few things myself! I understand Calvert now goes through HS.
I see a lot of folks throwing around words like “indoctrination” and “brain-washing” in their comments regarding the current state of affairs of the public-school system. Then in the same breath they are abhorred at the lack of faith based programs and teachings in those same institutions….You cannot have it both ways. School based religious programs are nothing more that force indoctrinating children into a faith based dogma that they do not have the option to opt out of. School should be devoted strictly to the fundamentals of education. Religions has absolutely no place in a public school. If a family wants to bring up their children in any number of faiths they are free to do so on their own time on the weekends, before, and after school. I believe that after school programs and clubs that are faith based are perfectly fine as long as they are not sponsored by the school itself. Keep learning in the school and religion in the church.
Dear Mr. “Lord” Snow,
It is apparent that you have little use for the notion of homeschooling because of your “Lordship’s” perceived taint of a learned religious ethical foundation. Therefore, all student education must be normalized to the median IQ and behavioral standard as defined by the state committee on directed enlightenment. Did I translate that aberrative notion correctly?
A child will eventually learn ethics as well as multiplication tables…one way or another.
How do you propose a survivable outcome for a child only taught how to add numbers without morality or hope or faith? I suspect there are a new batch of eugenicists just waiting for that void.
I assert that you are lying to reasoned people when you state “forced indictrination” is the ghastly outcome of faith based school practice. It’s far harder to practice your beliefs than to walk away from them.
Lord Snow is a character from Game of Thrones…
I never mentioned homeschooling but I think it is absolutely fine and a great option for those with the time and capabilities to do so in a manner that provide a strong education to their children.
Again, I never implied or otherwise made the notion that education should be normalized to the median IQ. There are reasons that AP classes exist, charter schools and advanced placement courses. There will always be those students who excel in a certain area and for the most part schools are adapting by creating advanced robotics and programming courses. I happen to live in an area with great public schools. You know what makes them great? Parent involvement. I volunteer once a week to help the teachers with those students who are having a difficult time keeping pace with the rest of the class. I am not the only one either, there are several parents who “chip in” and take an active role in not just their children’s education, but all the children’s education.
Morality and ethics are not derived from religion. Both of these ideas have existed well before there was religion and while they at times do share much in terms of commonality, they are not the same things.
What this all boils down to is this; children should have a choice in their own beliefs. If you want to talk religion in schools, fine, talk about all of them. Let the child decide which one appeals most their own person.
It is not that we have freedom of religion, we have freedom from religion too.
Of course morality and ethics are derived from religion. And if an individual is not raised with religion, he or she learns morality and ethics from a society and individuals who *have* been raised with religion.
Allowing a child to “choose their (sic) own beliefs” results in the absence of beliefs. Beliefs are taught. Just like everything else.
In Western Civilization the two are interlocked. So he is either lying or ignorant.
To be fair though, he gets style points if he was referring to the Ethics of Sparta. Because we do have those humanist moral icons like Pete Singer (ethicist) and Margaret Sanger (decomposing racist believer in murder). Perhaps that is religious sterilization he prefers in the classroom?
Whatever the backpeddle clarification we get next, the point is that the class rooms by and large in the aggregate ARE secular NOW.
THEY ARE NOT WORKING. Ergo: Homeschooling.
Why are there such a knee jerk responses to declare our feelz for policies 40 or more years old that have accomplished nothing?
Same crap repeated over and over and over like a demented parrot.
Congrats to all the Not All [fill in the blank] Are Like That believers who live in an education utopia. Just because you are a special snowflake doesn’t mean the avalanche will not occur underneath you.
The claim that ethics are derived from religion is refuted by the FACTS of history — by the fact that some of the worse crimes in history have been committed by people claiming to be acting to carry out God’s will.
Examples:
1) The massive numbers of people exterminated by the Vatican’s suppression of the Albegensian “heresy”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusade
Remember the papal legate’s response when a soldier asked how to distinguish the heretics from innocent Christians?
“Kill them all — God will recognize his own.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaud_Amalric
2) Remember the forced conversion of Jews in Spain? Those who criticize Muslims fail to remember that Jews once had to flee to the Islamic world to escape being burned alive by Christians.
3) Galileo had to recant his idea that the earth revolves around the sun to avoid being burned alive by the Inquisition.
4) And the Protestant churches in England levied similar atrocities upon Catholics — so that Henry VIII could have multiple wives while being made head of his own church.
6) More recently, the Southern Baptist Church was founded in the defense of human slavery.
7) The Founders well knew what evil could be done by power-seeking con artists claiming to speak for God. That is why the US Constitution says that no religious test can be applied as a condition for holding public office
and that Congress can not establish an official religion.
Religion needs to be kept out of politics because it becomes corrupted by the associated struggle for power —
and by the numerous compromises required to win political battles.
The winner of that struggle’s first act is to persecute and destroy people with different religious beliefs.
If you want your church to be left alone then the best way to accomplish that is to not threaten other churches or religions. Don’t force your fellow countrymen into a war which you may well lose. And which may condemn your soul to hell because of the acts you commit to win that war.
Why didn’t you add a few more links to your facts? Or troll a few more centuries? The equation is missing a term or two. You’ve proved nothing but a bias for the status quo.
What exists in the schools is not working. To casually sperg that we should avoid doing what we are not doing is insane.
Communism’s [religion is the opiate of the masses] body count stands somewhere in the 100 million range. Not enough math for you? Throw in a Godless Third Reich for another 90 or so million. All within a couple of hundred years. I can match your line of reasoning corpse for corpse.
Where is the basis of morality and ethics divorced from religion more aptly demonstrated?
Ultimately it boils down to self reliance and protecting your family. If the school sucks try to change it. Try private. Try moving. Try Homeschool. Try anything. This is survival right?
If instruction is working share some good info with the community (as several other posters have done).
1) Re links, here is an article covering the large numbers of massacres committed in the past 2000 years by forcible conversions of nations to Christianity. Notice the sophistry by which Pope Innocent III justified this even though he acknowledged that it was contrary to Christianity itself:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_conversion
2)Re your citation of Communism, you fail to realize that Communism itself is a religion. Like the Democratic Party. Both with the hilarious faith and claim that one day we will be ruled by honest men uncorrupted by the Rich.
3) Re the Nazis, Hitler was only able to come to power with the help of Germany’s Catholic Centre Party:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Party_(Germany)
How did that work out?
3)
Humanism, as taught in the public schools, is a religion as well. Our current political environment is permeated with it. So much for the “separation of church and state” arguments. This conversation has migrated off topic. Let’s pull it back on topic shall we?
Lord Snow, excellent point as to religious indoctrination but you forgot the point that if someone learns real critical thinking judeo-christian-islam(yes they are 3 branches of the same religion) becomes laughably false. The authors also conviently forget that both sides(Republican/Democrat)havevery used the system as a political football, President Reagan and his administration told me I was that wrong “color” to get into college despite being top 10% of my class and pre-med(surveying classes at a local college and doing cadaver work)and receiving the largest cash scholarship, I was white and Reagan was courting blacks for reelection(I know a dentist who failed out of our”science” classes but got into college on race. Don’t forget to teach your children the study of power known as political science.
As a public school teacher who also has homeschooled my children and grandchildren, I must disagree with some of your statements. You say “you cannot have it both ways”, yet, with the much-touted “common core” curriculum, public school teachers are REQUIRED to teach about Islam… Shouldn’t any and all religious instruction be the domain of the parents? Some schools set aside time and rooms for the Muslim children to pray during the day, yet Christian children are not allowed to read their Bibles during “free reading” time. While brainstorming things they were thankful for during a discussion of Thanksgiving, several of my first grade students mentioned “God” and “Jesus”…with NO input from me. When we put the turkey and the feathers up on the bulletin board, I was told to take off the ones that mentioned “God, Jesus, church”. I have always believed that teaching in the inner-city (Chicago Public Schools) is my mission field and that I was called by God to teach there. I do agree with you, public schools should be “strictly devoted to the fundamentals of education”. I want to teach kids to read, write, think, do math…but everything is so scripted and rigid. There is no time to allow the kids to actually think and use their brains. I have had to teach kids what toilet paper is for, how to use a fork instead of fingers to eat with, to use a napkin, to dress themselves properly…Yes, I would love to devote my time to the “fundamentals of education” but with 21 page lesson plans each week, discipline and no back-up by parents/guardians/administration, 300 items on the “teacher quality” checklist that I am evaluated on, and spending over $2000 of my own money to provide my students with all they need to be successful in school and in their futures…no wonder teachers are exhausted and burnt out. Oh, by the way…those homeschooled grandkids and kids of mine??? Jessica, age 12, aced the SAT and was offered early admission to the University of Iowa, Kaleb, 16 is in his second year of college, Izaak, 15, first year of college, David graduated from high school at 15 with two years of college credit. Please forgive me, Survival Blog readers, if this turned into a rant…that is not what I meant to do.
Just a personal note about Valedictorian & Salutatorian awards and “feelings”. I graduated public high school in 1982; a year late and in the top 99% of my class (I flunked my senior year, and barely graduated the next year!). I was my own worst enemy; I was lazy and couldn’t see beyond Friday every week. During the closing months of my HS career, I was on the receiving end of some pretty ugly comments from some of the “smart kids” in my classes. It honestly pissed me off! When I got over the juvenile anger, I decided I’d “show them” I was just as smart as they were! Those “bad feelings” they want to protect children from are exactly what motivated me to improve myself. I joined the Navy, saw a big chunk of the world; later became a Firefighter/Nurse, and I now own a small business. I long ago got over the need for any sort of revenge, now it’s just about living my life for God, and family. In my case, NOT getting a reward was possibly one of the best things that could’ve happened to me!
In the end it all boils down to power and control. By not teaching critical thinking, not to mention reading, writing and arithmetic, they (the govt) are raising generations of dumbed down, mindless, dependent voters, who will do as they are told.
Education…REAL education… makes one free and independent. This is something a power-hungry government cannot tolerate. Why do you think it was illegal in the old South to teach a slave to read?
To quote William Ross Wallace, “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.”
1) I think the idea that private schools are superior is public schools is wrong, in many cases. You haven’t seen indoctrination until you’ve looked at some private church-supported schools. And , yes, FORCING Christianity onto a young person instead of letting them find Christ under the guidance of their parents and pastor is indoctrination.
2) My son attended what is probably one of the top prep schools in the world — Phillips Exeter — and I did not see where his education was greatly superior to what he would have received at our excellent local high school. Don’t mistake me –Exeter is a very good school. It educates the global elite (but recruits talented kids from lower income levels.) It ensures all students are respected. It has the globalist mindset, with which I disagree in part.It pushes students to defend their ideas and opinions. It puts a more emphasis on having a student learn by reasoning rather than just rote acceptance of what a textbook says.
But the curriculum was largely the same as what one sees in a good public high school albeit with some more advanced, college level courses available and with higher peer competition (because of the selection process required for admission.) But the mindset is the same as most public schools — that the overriding, primary goal is to get the graduate into a top university. Even though many of our most successful people –our billionaires –succeeded because they dropped out of those universities early — or never even bothered to apply.
3) I think the major failings in American education are:
a) NO consideration whatsoever for the interests of the students much less input from the parents and students when the curriculum is developed.
b) NO attempt to forecast the future world and upgrading of a curriculum that is 20 or more years out of date.
c) NO input whatsoever from highly successful people into what curriculum would best prepare a student to succeed and deal with adversity– no input from major political leaders, top scientists, top entrepreneurs, top military leaders etc. For example, my son’s course in American history at Exeter skated across the American Revolution in one day — just hitting the highlights. A deep disappointment to me and to my son — since we thought HOW the Founders defeated the most powerful nation on earth at the time and created this nation should have been a major topic.
d) We have an educational curriculum that leaves its graduates –even at college level — deeply ignorant of the most important facts and without any knowledge of the World System.
e) Our curriculum is designed to produce corporate slaves — to entice healthy , intelligent kids into putting 17 years of hard work — and massive educational loans — into acquiring a worthless piece of paper that leaves them with no recourse but to join the rat race and sweat making money for the elites — a dreary 45 year attempt by students to get some return from their educational “investment”.
f) A curriculum that ensures our elites will not be troubled by the disruption of innovation from young, vigorous competitors free of the heavy burden of education loans and the need to provide for a family.
4) Examples of what our graduates DON’t know:
a) who the major military powers are — their strengths, weaknesses, and trends. How military operations –sea, air , land — are conducted and likely future innovations. How intelligence and diplomacy is done.
b) Who the major economic powers are — their strengths, weaknesses, and trends.
c) The distribution of wealth and income in each country. Who has the money and political power.
The goals of the elites and what they are doing/have done to achieve them. The impacts on the rest of us. The rate of incarceration and of executions per capita in the major powers.
d) What major natural resources are needed to sustain a major power, where the resources are , what the reserves are, the rate of consumption, when they will be depleted
e) Not only a deep grounding in current science but a forecast of likely scientific breakthroughs in the next 30 years and of likely technological innovations that will have a major impact. Which industries will decline and which will rise
f) Population sizes, growth rates in different countries and the dangers of our overpopulation
g) Self defense , using appropriate tools, against various dangers and in various environments. How to survive in the world’s various environments.
5) I blame the teachers union for strongly supporting a curriculum of enslavement. While there are teachers who care deeply about their students, there are many employees of the public schools who do NOT teach but instead are ADMINISTRATORS shoving a predetermined agenda down the parents throats.
Disunited parents weary from a hard day’s work are no match for the united front of a system pushing a new demand because it is what Washington or Harvard wants. In spite of ample evidence that what Washington and Harvard always want is to stab the American People in the back for profit.
I taught in a Community college, but quit to make a living with my hands & brains; So I offer this challenge:
This is the eighth grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, KS. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS and reprinted by the Salina Journal.
8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS 1895
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. Per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven
months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per >>m?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around
which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?
Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret ‘u’.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e’. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein,
raze, raise, rays
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.
My guess is that there are very few college graduates who could pass this exam. I failed it until I studied the needed classes to pass it … with a C grade. Still working to pass it with an A.
It’s time to get government at ALL levels out of education, health care, and a plethora of other areas where it has no authority to be, and let Americans become a self sufficient nation of God loving peoples once again.
Most Excellent!
Outstanding!!
Those Christians who teach in state schools only legitimize the humanist / statist indoctrination given to christian students.
Put yourself in the shoes of a young christian student. Your parents (who you assume have your best interest in mind) drop you off everyday at an institution where a “christian” teacher fills you with humanism, Marxism, perverse sexuality and revisionist history. Wouldn’t you therefore assume that such things are OK to believe.
Focus on the Family published a study years ago that found about 85% of little christian evangelists sent to state schools (K through 4 years of college) graduated not believing in God and having no interest in going to church.
Who was it who said: “the hand that rocks the cradle will ultimately rule the world”?
Christian parents must remember the scriptures commands them to teach and indoctrinate their children in the ways of God. For if Christian parents refuse, their children will find that the satanic minions are all to willing to take on this parental responsibility.
Last, Christians must relearn what it means to be governed by Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. The government of God gives no authority for the civil realm to educate children but places the duty on the familial sphere. To let the state teach Christian children is disobedience to God.
Amen brother!
Let us not overlook the role of the NEA (National Education Association, a union) in the condition of our educational system.
I believe that parents must learn, understand and appreciate the constitution and then love freedom enough to make the sacrifice to educate their children in how society should operate, including government. Until that happens, this country will not recover. It isn’t that the government is too far gone or that the constitution doesn’t work anymore. The tools are there for us to regain what we’ve lost. But until a majority of people look up from their phones long enough to notice and change their own lives to help fix it, we will not recover. The communists have the next generation.
As a Christian home educating prepper and father of seven,I have simple one thing to say about this article. Bravo. Love and blessings to all.
Common Core was not just Obama and the progressives. Jeb Bush and Bill Bennett (among other rinos) were great proponents pushing common core at every opportunity.
But WHERE was there any public debate whatsoever re what should be in the K12 curriculum?
Where were the parents and students asked what they wanted and what would benefit them?
Where was there any discussion of whether the value-added of a particular requirement –the benefits for a student –were in line with the time demands placed on the student?
Where was there any recognition by the teachers union that the students and parents are CUSTOMERS of the K12 system — people who are supposed to be SERVED — and not slaves expected to do what they are told?
Notice how the lying news media — which shoots its mouth off constantly about unimportant things — said Nothing about Common Core? Refused to even ask the proponents to justify it and show how it was superior to any alternatives. A public issue of major importance and the media refused to even raise the question of what was best for the student.
Think that silence was an accident?
If you want to test your school/administers/board: Teach a history about Watergate and point out that Much of what Nixon was accused of didn’t happen. For example using the IRS to punish his enemies. What Nixon actually said was “too bad we can’t use the IRS to punish the Democrats the way that Johnson used the IRS to punish Republicans.” He never did it, it was a political joke. THEN point out that in fact Obama DID use the IRS to punish his opponents AND he got away with it.
My advice is have another job lined up because such honesty will get you fired.
I am a 23 year old homeschooled and public school student. My time in education was not always the best when I was homeschooled I was unschooled, I did not learn to my full potential, but I did learn how to think outside of the box, read, basic writing, and basic math. If I had to gander when I went into high school at 16 I would have been at about a 5th grade reading, writing, and math level. Due to me being able to learn and absorb information quickly, I am not a genus I finished dead middle in high school, I not only caught up to I also far surpassed my peers within 6 months. I saw first hand what these schools were doing to children. I was taking a AP US Government class and we spent all of 10 minutes on the power the constitution gives to the states, and we spent weeks on the amount of power the federal government has from the constitution. It was not until recently when I took it upon myself to start learning again, because I have a newborn I will homeschool, that I learned how flawed my public school was. Even though it was in Hanover county were they are overwhelming republican. I even found out a very well liked and highly respected teacher was fired because the daughter of one of the board members was in his class and she did not like what he said one day, because he did not agree with HER view point. He always presented both sides of the story and was one of the best influences in my life!
It is sad to see how the public school system has ruined the most fragile minds. Most of my coworkers are about my age and they could not find Israel on a map, or England, or tell me whether Hawaii is a state or not.
I am a public school teacher. I do view the classroom and school as a mission field. I teach third grade after spending my younger (wilder?) years in a career as a JTAC in the Air Force. I enjoy spending time with my young students, many of whom have no father figure they can look to for guidance and direction. After getting to know each other for a few weeks the topic of religion, God, church comes up. This is where my mission comes into play. I can discuss these things as long as they bring them up first. I usually get them brought up because I have several pocket sized New Testaments (KJV) sitting on my desk. The covers vary from cowboy/ western to camouflage and even the pink camo. I have shared the plan of salvation to several students and many have begun going to church. I also pass out small copies of the Constitution and Bill of Rights ( thank you Woodmen of the World) and try to explain to their young minds that those two documents are the written source of our freedom. I’m also quick to point out that those same documents name God as the source of that freedom. Yes the public school system is mass indoctrination but if a teacher views it as a mission field in a hostile environment you can change minds and lives. I read this blog like I read my bible and in two more years I’ll be heading to the redoubt. Thanks to all who make it possible.
Thanks for bringing up the tax side of the issue. Many years ago I sold my catering business. With no debt, good health, and modest savings I thought I was done with making a living. Wrong.
Soon I had purchased an old building and installed a very nice kitchen and opened a cafe. One day a statement arrived from ISD wherein they broke down expenses etc. It also listed the number of employees and I thought I was seeing things. I don’t remember the exact number but around 400 and the town pop was under 3000. Like all the small towns around here they all have new high schools and football extravaganzas.
How does that make sense? Btw I have no kids.
We home educated our children right up to college. Our reasoning has been well covered above but I must add that if a Christian can’t see the subtitle indoctrination from both the government and teacher’s unions in curriculum and policy/law they are not discerning enough to make any real Christian impact. While home education may not be for everyone, government schools do not hold the answer. Frankly if you can read and write you are very capable of home education. Both my bride and I are barely functional at math but still were able to turn out a civil engineer by finding a program that covered our insufficiency. The education of our children cost us as a single income family but we raised custom children and didn’t have to turn them over to John Dewey’s philosophy.
Excellent rant!
When my daughter was in a well regarded public school at 8 years old she thought Obama was great. She certainly did not hear that at home. Four years later with a couple home school 8 year olds plus the older now 13 and home schooled we were lined up on the couch in November with MAGA emblazoned on index cards and taped to red hats listening to election returns and eating popcorn.
Lets not forget the muslim influence on Common Core, and most all school text books. They brought the money to the table to make Common Core the published text books that they are, with emphasis on Islam through out.
Public Schools are a failure. Why doesnt this guy support privatizing Schools, because if his corner of the world is as great as he claims, they will skate thru the transition, and if he is a good at his job as he claims, he would be able to keep his Job based on merit and not seniority.
I’m a “millennial” by the current definition, and I couldn’t agree more with JWR. I found this blog in the 6th grade when I left public school and started at a Classical Christian Academy. While in the top of my class among the sheeple, I needed to be held back a year just to be A YEAR BEHIND at my new school. Through God’s grace and hard work, by the 10th grade I had caught my peers (in all but foreign languages *Blech*) and had personally grown to be a leader within our community. Then my family lost income and I went back to public schools for my 11th and 12th grade years. I was so far ahead, I slept through my classes (Which in hindsight I completely regret) and even assisted my AP History teacher with teaching course material. The complete lack of rigor, paired with passive teachers who have given up (you can SEE it in their eyes), and a complete focus on “feeling” and “opinion” rather than FACT, was enough to make my stomach groan, ESPECIALLY when it came to what passes as a “Civics” class. All in all, my experience taught me 1. To be thankful for my father’s sacrifice to purchase quality education for me and, 2. My child will NOT receive a single IOTA of the Marxist drivel that passes as education these days (Deus Vult) JWR, keep doing the LORDS work!
Let’s approach this from a different direction. I am a workforce management professional. My teams have been responsible for placing thousands of employees in the right place at the right time to serve our customers down to the half hour or even fifteen minute intervals across continents. I’ve done this for two decades for very well known companies in the retail sales, banking, technology and customer service industries. I am not an engineer but I did have a solid high school and college education that helped me prepare for a successful career.
I hire employees that possess above average math, communications and problem solving skills. Training and guidance is provided to bring them from entry level positions up through mid and senior level management positions. College degrees aren’t required if they possess the basic skill sets and education centering around the old fashioned three R’s I’m looking for. Therein lies the problem. It is very difficult to find qualified people in their early twenties to take on these positions in today’s world. This wasn’t the case 15-20 years ago.
I place the blame squarely on common core and what I consider the morally reprehensible practice of dumbing our kids down so much they are nearly useless in the professional world. To top it off I’ve worked in multiple job markets including some of the top tech areas in our country and overseas travel. There is a reason why we hire foreign workers and it isn’t always due to pay differential. The average kid coming out of schools in Asia, the Pacific rim or parts of Europe can run circles around our grads at the high school level.
Parents, don’t be fooled into thinking today’s public schools and most secondary education institutions are preparing your children for success. It’s a losing battle. Your kids are largely underprepared to enter the workforce, unable to focus on complex problem solving, and are sometimes years behind their peers with parents who put some serious thought into a strategy to educate their kids over the years.
On the spiritual front, they are being exposed to some of the most corrupt ideals imaginable at very young ages before they are prepared to make informed decisions about complex moral topics.
I say get your kids out of the public school system now. If you can’t, then develop a strategy to supplement their education with carefully selected classes, workshops and other learning opportunities. Be very intentional about getting involved. I’d like to be able to hire YOUR kid one day.
Final comment – I would agree there are some great public school teachers out there. They truly care about their jobs and our kids. We need them to help our kids succeed. It’s also a fertile ministry ground. Don’t use those talented teachers as an indicator of the overall quality of education provided by public school curriculums today. Two different things.
Common Core is only the latest iteration of the dumbing down of America CM. Decades (or longer) of Look Say reading type programs have incrementally led us here. Those of us who are older have the benefit of being raised by parents who were actually educated and by osmosis benefited.
A lively, worthwhile discussion. Long overdue.
The public school system in America has taken on a two faceted mission. Produce citizens that lack the intellectual tools to challenge the government and ensure there is a pool of jobs for those ill equipped to compete in the free market employment system.
Best and most rounded and informed discussion on a most important topic I have ever seen on this blog. Thanks and GOD Bless
You’re on point 100 per cent. I am a retired 74 year old baby boomer from the west on of the redoubt states. I do a living history program on the early west in character of an early outlaw who rode with Butch and Sundance. We have toured thru 18 states over 80,000 miles in 15 years. I do programs in schools, libraries, and any venue that will let me as I am not politically correct I make it a point to see what is being taught in schools and what is available in Libraries. Then I get mad,,,History being rewritten, cursory writing gone.Testing to test and not retain subject matter. And seeing 1 st graders sitting at bus stops with a Mac. Common core, liberal teachers, and lack of the same moral upbringing that many of my generation had while growing up. Today if I had kids I would home school them…Another item of many that scares me that may of the people who are in charge were the hippy RADICALS FROM THE 60’We need to get back to the 3 R’s in the schools and get back in control of what is taught in public schools. Teaching morals, manners and christian attitudes.
My kids went to a San Francisco Bay Area school in the 90’s. The younger kid was forced to read “Heather Has Two Mommies.” The older kids were told that they’d be suspended for two weeks if they called anyone “gay,” even if the person WAS gay (homosexual, happy, or otherwise).
I rest my case…
Maybe its time to attack the system from within if you are being taxed for education and your children(all the ones in school) aren’t being educated, SUE the system for theft of services(class action) and demand your money back and clear the dead wood out and get your money’s worth:3r’s,history,science and the classics(Socrates, Plato,Confucius,Buddha,Cicero. The ability to think criticly and problem solve(creative thinking).
I am a Milennial mother of six (soon to be seven) children. I homeschool all of them; I was homeschooled on and off myself. The most important reason to keep praying for these Christian teachers is the number of parents who do not care about there kids; the only “parenting” they will receive is from their teachers. Yes, education is a parent’s responsibility, but it is pretty clear that there are a lot of parents who do not care about their Christian duty. Public school is not there for those children whose parents care about them; it is there for those children whose parents don’t care.
I am a mother of a soon to be 5th grader. I started homeschooling my child in third grade, and I regret not starting earlier. I strongly agree that the public school system is a well designed process that turns our children into narrow minded, brainwashed robots who are incapable of any creative thinking. The public schools spend more time teaching our kids to bow their heads to authority than teaching them how the real world works, and how to survive in it. In my experience the blame falls equally on the education programs followed at public schools and on the parents. I have talked to many people about homeschooling their children, and the usual reply for not doing it is: I don’t have time! It saddens me to hear them make excuse after excuse for sending their children to public schools when the truth of the matter is that they simply do not want to put in the effort and the time. These parents won’t even educate themselves on what’s best for their children! They would blindly go with the rest of the flow, and leave their kids conveniently into the teachers’ hands without even thinking about their children’s needs. It is easy, and effortless to simply forget about your child for hours every day. In most cases the parents can’t tell the level of their child’s knowledge. Yes, they can cite grades and percentages of tests and reviews. But they are far from understanding their child’s strengths and weaknesses. Then these same parents turn around and blame every failure on the teachers.
No, it was not an easy decision for me to start homeschooling. It took a lot of reading and research on my part to understand the benefits of the home education. I can proudly say that at this point after only 2 years of studying at home my daughter has surpassed her friends on every level. We make every decision regarding her education together, and she clearly understands the difficulties in her schooling. As I parent I know exactly where she stands when it comes to every class she takes. No, we do not own a TV nor do we have any Play station/X-box devices. We spend the time building toys, working on science projects, gardening, cooking, farming, swimming, and many many other activities.
Homeschooling is not as hard as it seems. Prepare yourselves by learning about its benefits . There are thousands of websites and books that can help you with every step you take. Give your child the time and attention it needs to grow into a strong and creative individual well prepared to enter the challenging world we live in. Help your children step out of the general population mold that dumbs them down, and turns them into mindless pawns. As parents it is our responsibility to take the first step towards the education of our children.
The quality of education has been going down. As for parental authority you have to take it. No body gives you the authority. It will not be given to you on a plate.
Yes there is outside influence. There always will be. There is only one remedy for this. Parents have to transmit their values. First you have to be certain of what those values are. Then you have to be able to transmit those values.
I never heard about this thing of all about feeling. But I certainly know a few things about the lack of motivation to teach where teachers are concerned, and defective didactic material. Have you ever taught geography using no map at all, but your imagination? It goes on. How about teaching math using a calculator in elementary school…. A few people will agree with me to say this is not a good idea.
If there is to be a change it will not come from the top. We are on this slide for quite a while. Cooperation among like minded people could help mitigate the undesired effect on families, communities and overall society.