Say what? The push to vilify public education has gone
off the Richter scale, again.
One thing is for certain, the public school system in this country is anything but “monolithic.”
School boards and states have dramatic sway over what is taught, and testing checks whether the courses are being taught in an effective way. But...
Republican governors and legislatures have successfully portrayed teachers as public pariahs. That is clearly their image now. Playing off the idea that public education is the source of liberal indoctrination, public education must be dismantled too. If that were true, where did all the conservatives come from?
And the following
example proves how far conservatives will go to push religious indoctrination and the profitable exploitation of education.
Harrisburg's Catholic bishop is facing heat … his word choice in describing a state without school choice.
The topic was school vouchers - specifically, Catholic schools closing under financial hardship and how vouchers would help. Bishop McFadden said he worries about state controlled public education and a lack of choice for parents. "In a totalitarian government, they would love our system. This is what Hitler and Mussolini and them tried to establish, a monolith, so all the children would be educated in one set of beliefs and one way of doing things."
The top educational systems in the world have national
standards. Where are the Hitler’s and Mussolini’s? Fear mongering much?
Pointless and mindless drivel?
Sure. But it appeals to that part of the conservative mind
that loves conspiracy theories and elevated levels of paranoia.
Without knowing it, the defensive nature of conservative
voters minimizes the actual argument, for a more knee jerk reaction and threat
to their ideology. They can’t be wrong, and they certainly wouldn’t be played for suckers by special interests.
In the U.S., corporate interests would love to make a little
money by privatizing education, and the religious right would like to survive
and indoctrinate students with public tax dollars.
That’s the real problem. The Anti-Defamation
League describes it as trivializing the holocaust, I say it vilifies public schools.
Frankly, I have about as much respect for the opinions of a Catholic Bishop as I would for a Mafia spokesman.
ReplyDeleteOur state controlled education is on the Prussian model. The same model used by Hitler. State control of indoctrination is a necessary attribute of totalitarian states. The U. S. system is no different. More that 90% of the budget of any local school board is used to meet state and federal mandates. The parents and the local community have little to say about what goes on in these institutions. Bishop McFadden's comparison is accurate. His proposed solution of vouchers is not. The only answer is to end any state control of education and let educational institutions compete in the free market for like everyone else. State-education is an oxymoron. I would never send my children to a state run school yet I am annually stiffed for the expense of these state indoctrination centers. We should be thankful to the thousands of parents who have borne the burden of homeschooling their children. From their ranks there may be some hope for the future of this country.
ReplyDeleteDowney
To Downey...were you home schooled? If you weren't, then someone paid for your education. Why not pay them back for the years you freeloaded off their money.
ReplyDeleteSilly story and silly argument about Hitler and the Prussian model. Anyone see an American Hitler? Maybe Rick Santorum, Chris Christie, but seriously. Every industrialized country uses a version of the scary Prussian model.
Name a country that uses the free market to educate their kids. Please, fill this space with you brilliance.