From the print edition of The New American:
“The common [public] school is the institution which can receive and train up children in the elements of all good knowledge and of virtue,” claimed Horace Mann in 1841. Mann was so instrumental in launching America’s public-school system that he became known as the “Father of Public Education.” Needless to say, he was proud of his creation. “This institution is the greatest discovery ever made by man,” he boasted.
Is it, really? Mann forecasted: “Let the common school be expanded to its capabilities, let it be worked with the efficiency of which it is susceptible, and nine-tenths of the crimes in the penal code would be obsolete: the long catalogue of human ills would be abridged: men would walk more safely by day: every pillow would be more inviolable by night: property, life and character held by a stronger tenure: all rational hopes respecting the future brightened.” That was the world that was promised by Mann and other champions of the public-school system, but that is not the world we live in today. Not only has the penal code not been rendered “obsolete,” but the schools themselves are by no means sanctuaries from violent behavior.
Of course, common sense should inform us that human beings, because of our flawed nature, cannot be perfected to the point where “the penal code would be obsolete,” no matter how great the institution entrusted with performing this task may be. But is this what we want the public (read: government) schools doing? And how can they even provide sound moral instruction when God is expelled from the classroom? Can morality be taught in the absence of teaching about God and his commandments? And even if it could, should we be comfortable entrusting this task to government?
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The article entitled “Government Schools Are Sexualizing, Perverting, and Confusing Children” shows that public schools, far from assisting parents with the moral instruction of their children, are actually contributing to the corruption of minors. Another article, “Insanity in the Classroom: Government Schools Today,” shows that the corruption now being inflicted by public schools is not just moral but also academic.
“Would you send your child into a building knowing that it was on fire?” ask Alex Newman and Dr. Duke Pesta, who wrote “Insanity in the Classroom” as well as other articles in this special report. “Of course not, but many parents are not aware that government schools are indeed on fire, figuratively speaking.”
To put out the fire, The New American and its parent organization, The John Birch Society, have long recommended separating school and state, and returning our country to the private education (homeschooling and private church-based schools) that was the norm prior to the advent of the public-school system. Accomplishing this would mean that billions and billions of dollars now spent on public schooling would remain in the pockets of taxpayers, who could then use that money to educate their own children, or to support the education of other children. The task is admittedly gargantuan, but it can be done.
But how about the tens of millions of kids who are in public-school classrooms today? In this special report, we recommend that parents do what they can to get their children out of the public schools — and we explain why.
One of the many alternatives is the JBS- and TNA-affiliated online school FreedomProject Academy, which provided the inspiration and planning for this special report, principally through Dr. Pesta (FPA’s academic director) and Mr. Newman (an FPA teacher).
We ask that you read this report cover to cover to decide for yourselves the extent to which the public schools are on fire and what needs to be done.
Image at top: skynesher via iStock / Getty Images Plus
This article originally appeared as the letter from the editor in The New American’s February 4, 2019 special report on education. (To order, click on the ad above.) The New American publishes a print magazine twice a month, covering issues such as politics, money, foreign policy, environment, culture, and technology. To subscribe, click here.
Also from our special report:
