Friends, major kudos tonight to the great state of Arizona, where Republicans have passed into law one of the biggest expansions of school choice in American history. Every public school student in Arizona will be eligible for a $7,000 voucher to cover the cost of a private school education or homeschooling. If there's one thing -- just one thing -- that politicians could do to brighten the future of this country, it's provide parents with a greater range of choices when it comes to the education of their children, at least if you ask me. Right now, millions of children are locked into an ossified, bureaucratic public education system that values neo-Marxist indoctrination over learning. School choice is the best way I can think of to shake up that system -- unless, of course, we were to abolish public education altogether. Alas, that probably isn't in the cards, so the Arizona approach looks like the best we can do. I can't wait to see how it pans out...
Americans have been impressed by the unity and perseverance displayed by the Ukrainian people in the face of a brutal Russian invasion. That's fair enough, but that image of unity and perseverance is undergirded by two things: the refusal of the Western media to report any story that conflicts with the approved, pro-Ukrainian narrative, and the refusal of the Ukrainian government and pro-war Ukrainians to tolerate any form of dissent. In other words, every Ukrainian seems like a bitter enemy of Russia now, but if Russia wins the war we may find that Ukrainian public opinion was always considerably more nuanced.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/ukraine-bans-political-opposition/
Finally, here's an insightful piece about how public opinion can be "led" or manipulated by pollsters. It's always wise to remember that many ordinary people have rather malleable and "soft" views and are hard therefore to peg either in terms of partisanship or ideology. Thus, every poll should be taken with a grain of salt, since every pollster's methodology is a little different.
RAY HERE.
ReplyDeleteNick, you know this school voucher stuff has been done before. I'm not faulting you for the information you provided on Arizona's efforts to combat the public school system, but you also know that private schools and homeschooling is not the best solution. I know you know that deep down.
A voucher for $7,000 is nothing if you want to send your child to a really good private school, where, in most cases, the same Marxist bullshit is already being taught, but with an upscale flourish for a bunch of spoiled rich kids.
The homeschooling leaves much to be desired. How many men and women are capable enough to do homeschooling? Most of the materials come from Beka Books, which if you go in any Christian book store, you will find loads of this pulp on the racks. Most of it, in my opinion, is really low grade.
You know, The Catholic Church realized ages ago that the solution to all this was, you guessed it, CATHOLIC SCHOOLS, Kindergarten through Senior Year in College. Regrettably, the main stream Catholic Church is riddled with the same Leftist b.s. that is in the secular public school system. The same goes for Protestant efforts to maintain K-12 for students, notably Lutherans and Baptists.
The truth is, very few colleges provide a really quality education. You can home school and private school all you want, but that college you pick for your kid, or they pick it, is most likely to be Left. Certainly the Ivy League Schools are. There are exceptions, such as Patrick Henry College in Virginia and Christendom College in the same state.
So what's the solution? There probably is not one. Sorry, but I think that is a realistic approach. The Public School system is bankrupt. Long Live the American Public School System! What next?
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Ray has provided a very plausible review of more of the issues attending school choice. Let me add one more: the failure obvious in so many inner city schools and some very rural schools of which I have subbing experience: it is directly attributable to dysfunctional attitudes brought by "students" into the classroom. Glenn Ford and Sydney Poitiers' miracles are beyond most of us. I have experience of teaching in both settings and most of them are productive of terrible stress and often resulting surrender to cynicism in teachers and administrators. The schools are not failing their responsibilities (except those who have completely caved, some very sympathetically, to the games substituted for discipline). The ultimate responsibility rests with those tasked with raising the kids properly. If you put a kid whose mind is severely damaged by chaotic home life, perhaps beyond help,in the most exalted of schools they will surely act out EXCEPT if you place them, individually, in compassionately disciplined settings like Catholic or military schools. ! I know this can work: I saw it do so in Shock Incarceration of convicted felons, under Marine boot camp routine, which achieved outstanding educational advances, with mostly ravaged students. I taught some of them and.it was the ambient order which the setting enforced which made it possible to reach them. I tried teaching in the anarchic setting of a regular prison warehouse and it was impossible!
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Dr.Waddy from Jack: Yes, let the fear of God be firmly esconsed in the leftist " ed colleges" and their , well, not always to be blamed, nonetheless compromised, graduates!They were indoctrinated into a leftist point of view and well, it is hard in midcareer to abandon the principles of your profession at that time! Change for educational quality will come when political entities like states or cities like NYC face competition for students and democratically consequent defunding!
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy andRay from Jack: I did not mean to discredit Ray's very credible observation that even Catholic schools have been infested by leftists! Observing the perhaps forced financial surrenders of some Catholic Colleges to despised secular liberal dictates helps to understanding of the "american" left's thoroughly destructive intent and its consequent determination to establish a certainly secular totalitarian dictatorship in America.
ReplyDeleteRay, there's a lot of wisdom in your analysis. You're right: many private schools are as bad as, or worse than, the public ones. $7,000 won't get anyone very far in the private school system. And yes, homeschooling isn't a realistic answer for the vast majority of parents. Like I said, my preference would be to abolish the public schools entirely, give every parent a generous voucher, and let the chips fall where they may. Short of that, tens of millions of schoolchildren will still be playthings in the hands of neo-Marxists. C'est la vie.
ReplyDeleteJack, I agree that discipline would benefit many young people, especially since they get so little of it at home, but the realist in me suspects that even Catholic and military schools today would bear scant resemblance to the schools you remember. Ray is right: the disease of leftism, and its permissiveness, have infected the whole system.
Agreed: competition doesn't solve every problem, but a complete lack of competition breeds mediocrity, at best, as we all know.
RAY HERE Sorry Nick. That "generous" voucher won't work. A lot of people won't spend it on education. The only real solution is for The Right to take over the education system completely, the way The Left has.
ReplyDeleteWell, a voucher isn't an envelope of cash. It could be controlled to some degree, but I agree that it isn't a perfect solution. Yes, a right-wing takeover of the schools would be wonderful! We could perfect our own skills of indoctrination... First, though, we'd have to create a one-party state and have a big ole purge. I'm on it, Ray! :)
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