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: lbooksusa@aol.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
Visible remnants of the world's eldest democracy can be seen... Read More
The current political efforts aimed at improving the American public... Read More
With respect to the States' databases, you may not locate... Read More
Legislation was introduced into Congress this week that would establish... Read More
There is something egregiously wrong about a government that will... Read More
Fifteen hours is a tremendous barrier. It is the obstacle... Read More
The US-backed Road Map peace plan had no real chance... Read More
For years we've suffered under recession, prompting us to ask,... Read More
The 'Land of the Free' is teaming with individual rights... Read More
The organic farmers are angry that Monsantos terminator GM seeds... Read More
Even the most devout proponents of free marketry and hidden... Read More
1) IS HAVING A DEMOCRACY MORE EFFECTIVE IN ADDRESSING POLITICAL... Read More
-The Protocol plan 'will remain invisible until the moment when... Read More
Tulipmania - this is the name coined for the first... Read More
As we watch fewer Americans voting it is no wonder... Read More
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has... Read More
Rational, sober, logical citizens wonder what exactly the terrorists want.... Read More
The US Dollar has been falling continuously in last year.... Read More
An interesting conversation that I thought I must share with... Read More
Judgment and detective work requires thinking about possibilities. One of... Read More
A visitor to Moscow would be immediately struck by the... Read More
The Republican Party became popular due to its view on... Read More
Their arrival portends rising local prices and a culture shock.... Read More
At the start of the US involvement in WWII Joseph... Read More
With the world's largest oil and natural gas reserves, second... Read More
The RSS is getting feedback from its 140 pracharaks or... Read More
IntroductionThe way one lyrist has written, "Hum logo ko samajh... Read More
The other day I was sucker punched, hoodwinked, bamboozled, had... Read More
Are the junior attorneys in the Attorney General's office leaving... Read More
The trade deficit with Canada is now 50 Billion per... Read More
Many people make a lot of money in war. In... Read More
Thought of the day; Questions about the judicial system. If... Read More
The evacuation of Gaza is now completed, and the world... Read More
Richard Nixon was by far a most fascinating and colorful... Read More
How do you feel about Terminator Seeds from Monsanto? I... Read More
To be justified, taxes should satisfy a few conditions:Above all,... Read More
"It is the duty of every citizen according to his... Read More
President Bush and Secretary Powell should hang their heads in... Read More
OH MAN!Here we go again. I guess now the "proof... Read More
For years I have been amazed as I've listened to... Read More
The CBR taxes the Pakistani source income of nonresident individuals... Read More
Hello! Happy new year. May you live a long healthy... Read More
An American soldier is taken behind enemy lines and brainwashed... Read More
Previously Senator Dick Armey and his staff in 2000 to... Read More
Ohio's transportation sector seems to be strong, even with Ohio's... Read More
When this president's father was in the Oval Office, he... Read More
Einstein when ask how did he believe WWIII would be... Read More
In the future when we decide to help nations vote... Read More
PolicyFederal Fair Housing accessibility requirements for new multifamily buildings should... Read More
The recent Jakarta summit of Asia and Africa brought remembrance... Read More
Our Hydro-electricity accounts for some 20% of our current needs.... Read More
Websites designed to help people overcome their gambling addictions have... Read More
From the comfort of their plush offices and five to... Read More
In every national budget, there is a part called "Public... Read More
"Rugged individualism" is actually a euphemism for Thomas Hobbes' baseless... Read More
News is spreading of the retirement of Supreme Court Justice... Read More
Conor MacDari was a Mason but his Masonry deplored the... Read More
Are you happy with all this so-called security after 9-11?... Read More
Streamlining Homeland Security with a Free market flair? An idea... Read More
In years past California Mutual Assistance Program and emergency response... Read More
If recent speeches by US officials on Iran's plans to... Read More
Water Conservation in larger cities is less of an issue... Read More
Fuel costs seem to rank high in surveys of US... Read More
30 years ago, California, later followed by other states, decided... Read More
In 1966, Dr. Carroll Quigley, a professor of history at... Read More
This is the second of a series of four articles... Read More
Political |