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
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) is interested in the... Read More
Most modern day media stories containing fear, controversy and chaos... Read More
The man on the tape raised his hand, pointing a... Read More
I have witnessed a new era of security in the... Read More
This is no time for the Black community to sue... Read More
Many MLM sales people mean well but they inadvertently commit... Read More
The devastating loss in case of Elliot Spitzer for NY... Read More
Currently when we transport troops we use large cargo planes... Read More
The NSA failed the American people and allowed the attack... Read More
If someone wanted to farm future clones they would need... Read More
I. The FactsJust days before a much-awaited donor conference, the... Read More
The partisan feuding in the U.S. Senate over federal judicial... Read More
The 'Land of the Free' is teaming with individual rights... Read More
Recently I got to talking with a gentleman at a... Read More
Aren't you glad you purchased Alaska? You got a bargain,... Read More
Well the title is absolute Bull Crap, but this article... Read More
Why are intelligent people so afraid of the idea that... Read More
News is spreading of the retirement of Supreme Court Justice... Read More
We have known of the innate characteristic need of members... Read More
Americans pride themselves on being the best, that's a fact.... Read More
As you know Delta Airlines is close to bankruptcy. Their... Read More
In many reports we see that the Federal Trade Commission... Read More
Some call it the "unofficial" or "informal" economy, others call... Read More
All the indicators show an improving economy and, finally, the... Read More
I hear it all the time; you can't say that.... Read More
family-safe home cleaners Northbrook ..Corporate America has been shaken recently by lawsuits and criminal... Read More
The Randolphs:Peyton Randolph was the first President of the United... Read More
The UAV, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is hear to stay and... Read More
One third of all fertilized eggs spontaneously abort and are... Read More
Rush is right! The government's stepped up bid to regulate... Read More
When Boris Yeltsin spoke about an experiment that 'they' wrought... Read More
History repeats itself, goes the cliche. It does so, perhaps,... Read More
We need more oversight and transparency in government. We need... Read More
There is a lot of debate about who made the... Read More
It looks overall like the liberals are advocating for no... Read More
Ethanol is a great way to produce fuel, great fuel... Read More
If someone wanted to farm future clones they would need... Read More
The FTC franchising division purports their law enforcement experience in... Read More
I read an interesting article in foreign Affairs magazine last... Read More
Last week, the media coverage called the airplane crash in... Read More
Are you happy with all this so-called security after 9-11?... Read More
On June 16, 1972, a security guard at the Watergate... Read More
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Was created on July 30th 2002, by... Read More
With the recent shakeups in the presidential cabinet, it has... Read More
Last week, I began my look ahead to the 2008... Read More
The paper industry in the US is hurting. Due to... Read More
MUD ? Much Unnecessary DisclosureThe Federal Trade Commission recently asserted... Read More
Businesses advertising alcohol either in TV or non-broadcast format need... Read More
We should all give much kudos to the Federal Trade... Read More
I always have to remember to take a deep breath... Read More
Political |