|
| |
May 13, 2002 Vol. 2, No. 8
===============================================
T H E S C H O O L L I B E R A T O R
===============================================
* Apology to Branden * Proclamation Cards--FREE *
* Stossel's "In Crowd" * More Oprahfication for
Safety's Sake * Of Thugs and Thongs *
* Are Parents Boycotting Public Schools? *
--> Last week I passed on the excellent news that Nathaniel
Branden signed the Proclamation at the FEE confab in
Las Vegas. To my question, "What took so long?"
Alliance President Marshall Fritz called to inform
your editor that it took Dr. Branden all of a few seconds
to take out his pen and sign ONCE HE WAS ASKED.
We didn't want to leave you with the false impression
that Dr. Branden came late to the party--quite the
contrary, sadly we were late in inviting him.
--> This was my point exactly although I must apologize
for neglecting to expound and seeming to insult Dr. Branden.
--> We are a small movement on a big scene, often drowned
out not only by the Education Establishment and their status
quo message, but also by all manner of well-meaning false
reform advocates who jamb the bandwidth.
--> How do we make headway? Since we cannot expect all
our natural allies to find us, one of our tactics is to
approach opinion leaders, educate them on our movement and ask
them to sign the Proclamation. That's what part-time Alliance
employee Adam Bernay did. He showed initiative at a Young
America's Foundation meeting by asking one of the speakers,
syndicated columnist and talk show host Larry Elder, to sign the
Proclamation. And that's what Gene Fritz did when Penn & Teller
happened by the Alliance booth at the FEE Fest in Las Vegas.
Elder, Penn and Teller all readily signed, as did Dr. Branden.
--> The more opinion leaders who sign, the more others
are likely to. Witness the snowball effect of Dr. Dobson's
recent advice to California parents.
--> Are you prepared? That is, do you keep a Proclamation
card in your wallet or purse? If you don't have Proclamation
cards on hand, call us toll free at 888/338-1776. Leave your
name, phone number and address. We'll send you the cards--
FREE.
--> John Stossel's most recent expose is about the social
life in schools called "The In Crowd." It is available on
video at Laissez Faire Books. http://www.lfb.org
--> The cruelty and violence, even among very young
children, was appalling. Equally frightening was the
behavior of the adults.
--> You will grieve as you watch a mother and father tell
how their teenage daughter was driven to attempt
suicide by the harassment and bullying she endured
every day at school. You'll be shocked to realized that
after their daughter's first failed attempt, her parents
sent her back to the very same school and that her second
suicide attempt was successful.
--> You will see professional psycho-babblers bring
programs to the schools to teach children how to stop
bullying. You will be amazed at how Stossel and
others praise these programs because they seem to work.
But do they?
--> This video is well worth watching, especially if
your child is still in government school and wants to
stay there because of, rather than in spite of, the
social scene.
--> And will someone please hand Stossel a Proclamation Card?
--> In the name of safety, Aptos High School in Aptos CA
had the psycho-babblers come to visit them for the day, and
engaged the student body in the type of confessional
exercises we reported on last week. Some how they forgot
to tell the parents anything about it.
"Crossing the Line crosses the line, some parents say"
http://www.santa-cruz.com/cgi-bin/p/psafe/psafe.pl
--> In Seattle, children in grades three through 11
took a psycho-babble survey in conjunction with their
standardized tests, no less, answering intrusive questions
and providing their names and id to correlate answers
with demographic info. Why? To create a safer learning
environment, of course.
"Schools told they can tear up controversial student surveys"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/134449727_survey07m.html
--> This is the Misesian doctrine in action: government creates
a problem which, according to government sponsored experts,
then requires further government action to solve--iatrogenic
social policy. Why not save a whole lot of time, money
and emotional energy? Shut the government school doors
and let everyone stay home.
--> Gee, I wonder where all the money for the anti-bully
programs is coming from.
--> EduAbsurdity: Since traditionally, the biggest bully of
them all stands at the blackboard, our last item shouldn't
surprise anyone. I can't possibly comment, wouldn't want to
destroy the impact. Let's just say, only in California, my
home sweet home.
Of Thugs and Thongs: Zero Tolerance Where Art Thou?
http://www.cfif.org/5_8_2001/Free_line/current/thugs_and_thongs.html
================= ANNOUNCEMENTS =================
--> If you missed the live Marlin Maddoux program that featured
Alliance President Marshall Fritz and Exodus Mandate founder
Ray Moore, you can still listen to it on the internet. Follow
this link to the April 24th show:
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/point_of_view/Archives.asp
================= SPECIAL OFFERS =================
In "Victory without Vouchers," Alliance President
Marshall Fritz shows how victory is possible without
vouchers and even contends that hey are a step in the
wrong direction. Get this 90 minute audio tape
including responses from Andrew Coulson and David
Friedman as a School Liberator special, just $1 plus
$3.50 shipping--a whopping $7 off.
Call Nikki at 559/292-1776 to order--TODAY.
===================== FEATURE ====================
Are Parents Boycotting Public Schools?
By Wendy McElroy
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,52076,00.html
Take your children out of public schools.
That's what James Dobson, founder of the conservative
Christian organization Focus on the Family, told more
than five million American listeners in a March 28
broadcast of his daily radio show.
"In the state of California ... I wouldn't put [a]
youngster in a public school," Dobson bluntly stated.
His words sparked a campaign that reveals the extent
of parental discontent with public schools.
Why are they discontented? Some parents worry about
the lack of religious or "moral" values; other parents
point to low academic standards or bias against male
students. (Dobson objected to "homosexual propaganda"
that teaches, for example, that "bisexuality is normal.")
The common denominator is that parents wish to choose
the values and standards by which their children are
educated.
The campaign against public schools snowballed April 9
when the popular radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger
declared, "I stand with Dr. James Dobson." Indeed,
Dr. Laura did not restrict her comments to California.
"Take your kids out of public schools," she advised.
The same day, in his Christian talk show Point of View--
broadcast over 360 American radio stations--Marlon
Maddoux added his agreement.
Marshall Fritz, founder of the Separation of School
and State Alliance, described the power of these
endorsements in an April 15 press release. SSSA has
created an online Proclamation for the Separation of
School and State. In the week following the broadcasts,
signatures on the proclamation increased from an average
of five per day to over 100. Then, on April 23, Fritz
circulated an excited memo. An article in WorldNetDaily
had reported on the controversy. In one day, the
proclamation received over 2,500 new signatures.
The document reads simply, "I proclaim publicly that
I favor ending government involvement in education."
But the companion list of ten benefits to "school
liberation" states as number one, "Parents will be
reinforced ... parents will choose schools where
teachers support their values." Other benefits include
safety, academic quality, decreased cost, and better
schools for poor children. From the list it is clear
that the anti-public school movement is pro-education
in a grassroots sense that returns responsibility for
children from the government to parents.
The backlash against public schools comes in the wake
of recent horror stories in the media. Some deal with
threats to children's safety--and not merely from
fellow students with weapons. ABC News reported on
a Head Start program that used cockroaches to discipline
children. One boy who was subjected to the cockroach
punishment at age five remains so afraid of bugs three
years later that he refuses to go outside.
Other reports question academic standards. The April 16
Philadelphia Inquirer reported that, for the first time,
Pennsylvania would release test results for math and
reading by race, poverty and sex. This sparked fears
that the quality of future education a child would
receive might hinge on race, poverty and sex. Indeed,
since the 2000 publication of Christina Hoff Sommer's
The War Against Boys, accusations that boys are
second-class citizens within the public schools
have become commonplace.
What seems to stir up the most anger, however, is
the teaching of politically correct values to children
against parental wishes. In January, the Pacific
Justice Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of
distressed parents against a California school that
conducted allegedly pro-homosexual assemblies without
notice or parental consent.
As parents remove their children from the public schools,
however, governmental resistance to alternative education
will probably increase. The most vulnerable alternative
is likely to be homeschooling. Stories such as that of
California mom Sandra Sorensen may become more common.
The Sorensens decided to set up their own private school
after their 10-year-old son's public school initiated a
policy of having fellow students issue suspensions to
each other, which teachers would sign. "Children should
not have the power over other children," Sandra explained.
"Nine and 10-year-olds shouldn't be giving out suspensions.
Kids can be mean."
As a result, she is facing a possible jail sentence for
"contributing to the delinquency of a minor" and claims
to have been harassed severely by school officials.
For example, the California Child Protective Service
investigated the family based on a complaint filed by
the son's former principal. The complaint alleged that
Sorensen did not provide proper medical attention for her
son's diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
A standard treatment recommended by public schools is the
powerful and controversial drug, Ritalin. The CPS
investigator found the allegations to be unfounded.
Despite such risks, parents seem more likely than ever
before to remove their children from "the system." With
reports of homeschooled children outperforming those
educated by government schools in national spelling bees
and on some tests, parents who would never resist
authority in any other area seem willing to step
forward for the sake of their children's well-being.
Perhaps Marshall Fritz is correct in believing that
Dobson's statements could signal the beginning of
a revolution.
--------------------------------
Wendy McElroy is the editor of http://www.ifeminists.com
She is the author and editor of many books and articles,
including the forthcoming anthology Liberty for Women:
Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century (Ivan R. Dee/
Independent Institute, 2002). She lives with her husband
in Canada.
--------------------------------
This article is included for information only. The Alliance
does not necessarily endorse any or all of Ms. McElroy's
opinions.
==================================================
FINAL THOUGHT
"The true nature of education is not, or at least not
solely, the development of intellect. It is the
development of character, which is why it can never
be reduced to the mere transmittal of information
from teacher to student. Whether the experts admit
it or not, and regardless of our opinions as parents,
all education results in the student being immersed
in the teacher's philosophy (or religion, or world
view). Education is a shared experience for the
student and teacher in what is implicitly their
search for truth, wisdom and virtue. Our culture's
deepest tragedy is that a thing so vital, so intimate,
and so spiritual as the education of our children
has been left to hired hands, however well meaning,
and predominantly government agents and electronic
gadgets, at that."
--Cathy Cuthbert in "Raise Your Own"
http://www.ifeminists.com/introduction/editorials/2002/0507b.html
===================================================
SIGN THE PROCLAMATION or get a family member to:
"I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government
involvement in education."
http://www.sepschool.org/Proclamation
WANT TO SOUND OFF? Discuss education issues with
fellow articulate School Liberators. Go to
http://www.sepschool.org/misc/yahoogroups.html
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? Send us your message at
mailto:ccuthbert@fix.net
WORD OF MOUTH is the most efficient means of marketing
the Separator philosophy. Please forward this newsletter
to your family, friends and associates.
==================================================
THE SCHOOL LIBERATOR is a FREE service of The Alliance
for the Separation of School & State, 4546 E. Ashlan #3282,
Fresno CA 93726 (559) 292-1776. We are a non-profit,
grass roots, educational organization dedicated to
informing people worldwide how education can be
improved for all--not only the poor--by liberating
schools from politics. For more information go to
http://www.sepschool.org
Publisher: Marshall Fritz
Editor: Cathy Cuthbert
Copyright 2002, The Alliance for the Separation of
School & State, Inc. All rights reserved.
The School Liberator is archived at the following url:
http://www.free-market.net/features/list-archives/schoolliberator-list/maillist.html
(Copy and paste into your browser)
TO SUBSCRIBE to The School Liberator send an email message to
mailto:SchoolLiberator-list-request@free-market.net
with just one word, "subscribe," in the BODY of the message
(not the subject.)
TO CANCEL do the same but with the single word,
"unsubscribe" in the body.
|