Many parents might think it a bit farfetched to compare our public schools to schools in socialist or communist countries. However, if we look closer, we will see striking similarities between the two systems.
In the former socialist-communist Soviet Union, for example, the government owned all property and all the schools. In America, public schools are also government property, controlled by local government officials. In Soviet Russia, the government forced all parents to send their children to government-controlled schools. In America, compulsory-attendance laws in all fifty states force parents to send their children to public schools.
The Soviet rulers taxed all their subjects to pay for their schools. Here, all taxpayers pay compulsory school taxes to support public schools, whether or not the homeowner has children or thinks the schools are incompetent. In the Soviet Union, all teachers were government employees, and these officials controlled and managed the schools. In America, teachers, principals, administrators, and school janitors are also government employees, paid, trained, and pensioned through government taxes.
In the Soviet Union, most government employees could not be fired they had a "right" to their jobs. Public-school employees in America also believe they have an alleged right to their jobs, enforced through tenure laws. As we will see later, in America, it's almost impossible to fire tenured teachers. In communist Russia, competence and working hard didn't matter very much - the government paid most workers regardless of their performance on the job.
In America, public-school teachers' salaries depend on length of service competence is irrelevant. In communist Russia, the elite ruling class had estates in the countryside while peasants starved. Here, public-school authorities get fat salaries, pensions, and benefits while our children starve for a real education.
In communist Russia, government control of food supplies created eighty years of chronic famine. In America, one hundred and fifty years of public schools has created an educational famine. Millions of public-school children can barely read while the system wastes twelve years of our children's lives.
Still think the comparison to communist schools is too farfetched? Albert Shanker, former President of the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teacher's union, once said: "It's time to admit that public education operates like a planned economy, a bureaucratic system in which everyone's role is spelled out in advance and there are few incentives for innovation and productivity. It's no surprise that our school system doesn't improve. It more resembles the communist economy than our own market economy."
Finally, schools in some communist countries like China seem to give a better, more disciplined education in the basics of reading, writing, and math than our public schools. International math and reading test-score comparisons often find American kids lagging far behind children from China.
But what values do Chinese communist schools teach their children? Here is another apt comparison between communist schools and our public schools. In both cases, either a central or local government controls the curriculum and the values it chooses to teach its students. The Chinese government can and does indoctrinate all school children with its communist ideology and loyalty to the communist leaders.
Similarly, in our public schools, left-leaning school authorities control the curriculum and the values they teach our children. In many public schools, values-clarification programs and distorted American history courses in many public schools now indoctrinate our children with anti-parent, anti-religion, and anti-American values. In both communist schools and our government-controlled public schools, parents cannot (with a few exceptions) stop school authorities from teaching harmful or immoral values to their children.
Question --- Do socialist, compulsory, government-controlled public schools belong in America, the land of the free?
Joel Turtel is the author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children."
Website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.
Article Copyrighted ? 2005 by Joel Turtel.
NOTE: You may post this Article on another website only if you set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtel's email address and website URL, http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com
Many Americans feel betrayed by their government, our government. I... Read More
When organising a country or a group of people in... Read More
Journalism, as it is often said, is the 'fourth branch... Read More
Economy is called the dismal science because it pretends to... Read More
Well having studying the need for decreasing America's dependence on... Read More
Guides for RetailersThe regulations about marketing pearls are listed in... Read More
Elliot Spitzer, recently said he wanted to drive a stake... Read More
This brings to our consciousness, issues concerning the ever rising... Read More
The use of religion is well-documented as a social engineering... Read More
A. THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMPETITIONThe aims of competition (anti-trust) laws... Read More
I like Bill O'Reilly. I do. I have read two... Read More
China maybe stopping some of the SPAM coming into the... Read More
We should all give much kudos to the Federal Trade... Read More
How many legs does a dog have if you call... Read More
When North Americans discuss Cuba, they always focus the intense... Read More
This is the fourth and final article in a series... Read More
Clint Eastwood recently plunged into the murky political pond with... Read More
I have witnessed a new era of security in the... Read More
Any chances for a country to be ruled by alternative... Read More
Reform Social Security has been talked of Capital Hill for... Read More
Fearful that terrorists will next target Australia, Prime Minister John... Read More
For years we've suffered under recession, prompting us to ask,... Read More
Many had made mention of the problems of business opportunities... Read More
Dust from Deserts and Particulate ControlThe greatest contributor to particulate... Read More
Question: Dr. Vaknin ? is it true that you are... Read More
cleaning lady near Lincolnshire ..Michael Moore asserts the following in his political film Fahrenheit... Read More
Much of our personal and cultural perspective on the world... Read More
Is Starbucks a monopoly? It fits all the definitions. Does... Read More
Aspartame activists are constantly being attacked because all data are... Read More
When organising a country or a group of people in... Read More
A Governmental commission, headed personally by the Prime Minister has... Read More
Without the flow of fuel our very mobile society comes... Read More
One way to increase evaporation in the ocean might be... Read More
Due to the bizarre weather patterns this winter California got... Read More
Few understand the Franchising Format and even fewer have correlated... Read More
The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees every American... Read More
Ever wonder why labor unions consistently endorse democrats over republicans... Read More
Please read through this quick thought and discussion as if... Read More
On June 16, 1972, a security guard at the Watergate... Read More
The number of countries in the world at the moment... Read More
Airlines do not allow cell phones on board, but they... Read More
The idea is to have all the important items with... Read More
In Police Magazine I read a great article about transient... Read More
Mexico the country of Salsa, Tortillas and Corruption; I first... Read More
We are told by out leadership that we risk loss... Read More
Recently scientists have been watching the exponential growth of marine... Read More
Indonesia's Energy Minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, is unhappy with the modest... Read More
A SOLUTION FOR EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS TO AID IN THE FIGHT... Read More
According to a postulate made by Ignacio Ramonet ecological resources... Read More
Submiting the Criminals to The ICC!Everybody concerns about justice in... Read More
Political |