I wanted to mention a couple of books that I’ve come across, books that address the responsibility of Christian parents to educate their children rather than leaving it up to the ailing public school system. In the preface of Excused Absence: Should Christian Kids Leave Public Schools?, Douglas Wilson and Marvin Olasky (one of my favorite Christian world view writers) make the case that we should not be institutionalizing our kids in the public school system.
Although this book is a bit polemical and short on balance, it is a decent primer on how we should view the education of our children. I am a little disappointed that it sounds a bit like indoctrination, and does not say enough about teaching critical logic skills, but I think this book is more about WHY we should not trust the public schools to educate our kids, not about HOW to home school or private school our kids, or about how to choose curriculum.
In the introduction, the authors list a few foundational principles for Christian parents, regarding the education of their children:
- First, neutrality is impossible in any endeavor, much less in education. Christ is Lord of all, including the three cornerstones of all true Christian education: truth, beauty, and goodness.
- Second, although government schools are build on the quicksand of pragmatism (the belief that truth is what works), government schools cannot really "work" because they ignore the context for all true education (nurture and admonition).
- Third, the Bible requires parents to educate their children in accordance with a biblical worldview from the time they get up until the time they go to sleep.
- Fourth, god calls us to train our children to love Him, not only with all their heart, soul, and strength, but also with all of their mind.
- Fifth, there is no such thing as a free lunch, but for too long Christian parents have believed that public education is free, when the "legal tender" paid is indeed tender – their very children (i.e. just because public education is convenient doesn’t mean it’s best for our children).
- Sixth, Christian parents disobey God at their peril and the peril of their children by offering them to the three false gods of all government education: pragmatism, pluralism,and relativism.
The second interesting book is The Harsh Truth About Public Schools, which is unique in that, it is critical of the public schools, not because they lack adequate teacher preparation or salaries, but because their very design and structure is based on a weak model, which can never produce more than mediocre results by the limitations of the design. He argues that the public school system is really only capable of institutionalizing kids, not preparing them for individual thought and efforts. Here’s how one reviewer put it:
[The author] argues that reform efforts are futile since the system is
structured in a way that will resist any attempts to reform any thing
other than cosmetic features.[…] Shortt points out
that the current system was modeled after the old Prussian system,
Prussian schools considered children to be the property of the state.
The state treated them that way. They were taught to be obedient to the
state and their main purpose is to advance the interests of the state.For this goal, real education was unnecessary and even counter to
the overall intention of public schools. The author makes a strong case
that the US public schools are designed exactly in this format.This was only the case here in the country AFTER the adoption and
evolution of the public schools to it’s current form. Many argue that
public schools are a failure. Shortt seems to present the argument that
they are accomplishing exactly what they are designed to do: mold the
children into willing consumers of the products of big business and
obedient servants of government.
Public schools are not where I want to send my kind. Really. They can learn all about drugs, violence, illicit sex and profanity from the TV at home (sarcasm), and they can learn all about diversity at church and in the local community and on missions trips and field trips with friends and family.
What, are we all too busy to comment? Bummer. I thought that the idea in the second book was interesting – being against government schools because they institutionalize our kids.
But as I like to say, there is no perfect educational model, and each has it's own strengths and weaknesses. If this is a weakness of public schooling, how do we compensate? How do we individually customize curricula for each student, give them personal attention, teach them to think outside of the box instead of learning to be a cog in the machine?
There are a lot of posts to which you have not responded to recently Seeker. Aaron has been doing most of the commenting work lately. Are you able to comment during the day now? I've gotten involved in a debate here if you are interested in commenting. The post is called, "Atheist Arrogance." You'll surely recognize some of my arguments.
What I find fascinating above is your astonishing admission that truth isn't your goal (#2), but, rather, indoctrination in christianism. Another step in your on-going advocation of theocracy.
What, are we all too busy to comment?
Seeker, no. The truth is we all got into a nice heated discussion about home schooling few weeks back. I think alot of those comments (including those I posted back then) basically covers it.
That being said, I can put this out there once again. You have a right to home school your child and that is a personal right which I can get behind. However, the minute you say that because I want to home school I should not be required to pay taxes into a public school system from which my children derive no benefit, we have a problem.
The public schools in general terms are in trouble. However, there are really good examples of public school systems that really shine and do out perform private schools or home schooling (you can disagree on this point of course). The minute you give parents the right to opt out of paying taxes towards public schools because they do not have children in the system, you are in effect complicit in contributing to the diminishing quality of education of children that either don't have parents that can afford to send their child to a $35K/year private school (K-12)–yes they do exist, or b) have parents that due to economic factors have to work to keep shelter and food on the table.
Silver.
However, the minute you say that because I want to home school I should not be required to pay taxes into a public school system from which my children derive no benefit, we have a problem….The minute you give parents the right to opt out of paying taxes towards public schools because they do not have children in the system,
That's a debatable point, and I'm not sure on which side I stand. I definitely believe in a voucher system, though. I don't think all parents or non-parents should be able to opt out, but if you have school-age children that are getting an alternate education, I have no problem with vouchers (or tax reductions) that may only be used for that education.
As for whether or not education is a basic service that we should be taxed for, I'm on the fence – same for healthcare, I think we need a private/public hybrid, not one or the other.
However, there are really good examples of public school systems that really shine and do out perform private schools or home schooling (you can disagree on this point of course).
Agreed, but they are the exception, not the rule. The general statistics show private and home education nearly always exceeds public. Admittedly, the public schools are often working with some of the poorest students, but economics doesn't really account for it. I mean, there are many Catholic schools that work with poor kids, and I believe that they perform well.
What I find fascinating above is your astonishing admission that truth isn't your goal (#2), but, rather, indoctrination in christianism. Another step in your on-going advocation of theocracy.
Not really. The question is, truth in what framwork? Truth in the atheistic, materialistic world view, or in a biblical world view? Either view will limit how you interpret facts, and in either system, you should help them inquire outside of your specific world view. However, that does not mean that you have no assumptions about what is true or how you find and verify it.
100,000 years ago, a caveman was out hunting on the frozen wastes when he slipped and fell into a crevasse. In 1988, he was discovered by some scientists and thawed out. He then went to HOME SCHOOL and became…
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm just a caveman."
"I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists."
"Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic makes me want to get out of my BMW and run off to the hills or whatever. Sometimes when I get a message on my fax machine I wonder, Did little demons get inside and type it? I don't know! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts."
"But there is one thing I do know. When a man like my client slips and falls on a sidewalk in front of a public library, then he is entitled to no less than two million in compensatory damages and two million in punitive damages."
"Thank you."
The general statistics show private and home education nearly always exceeds public.
I would take issue with that on the grounds that private education almost always requires direct funding from parents to send their kids to the school in the first place. The general cost of sending a child to a first class private school is at a mean average of $30K per year within the United States.
Public schools on a national average get less funds per child than any child that can attend a private school. It's pure economics.
Admittedly, the public schools are often working with some of the poorest students, but economics doesn't really account for it. I mean, there are many Catholic schools that work with poor kids, and I believe that they perform well.
See my point above. If you look at the impact of Proposition 13 within the State of California's Public School system (which reduced property taxes across the board and reduced funding for schools) what you see is a direct correlation over the last 30 years in the decline of quality of education and test scores in relation to budget cuts derived from Proposition 13.
With regard to Catholic Schools… The only Catholic Schools that I know of within the United States are in effect private schools and charge the parents for admission. I am a product of 3 years of Private Catholic School Education in addition to attending one of the top 5 School districts in California. So, yes, I would say you are overstating the role of private Catholic schools in the US in teaching the working poor.
– Silver
"The question is, truth in what framework? Truth in the atheistic, materialistic world view, or in a biblical world view?"
No, Truth truth. You know, the kind that requires some form of verification. I'm not interested in "frameworks." Of course, you, as a fanatical christianist, can only interpret reality through the lens of your ideology, whether it can be verified by evidence or not. I seek a truth that has some chance of verification. This requires an open mind and an ingrained skepticism which refuses to be intimidated by authority or theocratic ideologies. What your author above advocates is indoctrination in christianist theology, not education as we usually understand it. What's the difference here between what happens in a Muslim madrasa and in the school you advocate? Indeed, why choose Islam over Christianity if you can't provide reasons or evidence? Why should an outsider choose one over the other? They both look like scary fanaticism to me.
The consequences of home schooling (brainwashing) children in creationism.
Public schools on a national average get less funds per child than any child that can attend a private school. It's pure economics.
I was talking about student achievement, not cost per pupil.
But economics is not the whole problem. California spends more per student than many states, yet we lag near the bottom. Economics is part of the picture, but the other part is that home schooling and private are often superior for other reasons.
Seeker,
I was talking about student achievement, not cost per pupil.
I know you were. And, I was talking about a direct correlation between cost per pupil and where that money goes in the system to academic achievement. There is in fact a direct correlation particularly in private schools.
California spends more per student than many states, yet we lag near the bottom.
Again, where is the money going? Sure CA throws money at the problem, but where in the public school system. Equally the money distributed is not proportionate to the actual need of a specific school district, but on a raw cost per pupil state average. There is a flaw in that. Couple with the fact the last 5 School Funding bond measures funds for lower and higher education have been deferred to cover the state deficit, it is no wonder. Duh.
…but the other part is that home schooling and private are often superior for other reasons
Seeker, maybe you never went to private school…I dunno. I did. I went to both a private and a public school. I speak from real world experience not theoretical opinion or biased studies…
I can tell you for a fact that where public schools get the funds they need on the ground that they are equal if not superior to many private schools period.
– Silver
Also there is another flaw with your comparison to California…
…California spends more per student than many states
Yes, that is true. Also California is the one of the largest states (if not the largest state) in terms of population in the United States. So, while the statement of a CPC being higher in California is true, it does not reflect the reality that there a proportionately more children in the CA Public School System than in any other state. So, yes, naturally a smaller state will perform better due to a smaller population because they have fewer children in their system.
California’s school system is huge, well underfunded when compared to CPC spent (when adjusted for inflation) prior to the implementation of Proposition 13. All the recent bond measures over the last 20 years STILL have not made up for that lost revenue (And don’t even mention the CA Lottery…where less than 1% of revenue generated ever reaches the public school system).
– Silver
Well, despite our philosophizing over the value and methods of funding for public schools, the fact remains that most public schooling today turns out inferior students, while home schooling has amazing current levels of academic achievement and social skills. These books are just two in a long list that discuss these issues, and I am of the mind that I would not want my kid in an average public school.