The governmental war on its citizens, takes many forms. Public education, like Social Security, has been around for so long, that few will question its validity. A brief history of public education, takes us back to the 1800’s, and even earlier, but compulsory public school attendance was not passed until the beginning of the 1900’s. By 1913, it was in all states, required for all children to attend schools, and 99% of them had become ’public.’ Surely everyone will have to agree that ’public’ anything is a disaster, be it public housing, public restrooms, or public schools. One of my best friends and his three brothers, all went to a one room schoolhouse in Montana. The community took a collection to pay for the school ’marm,’ and provided her with a place to live and a small salary. The brothers all were in the same room, and progressed from grade to grade as they were able to do so. They all say that one room schoolhouse was absolutely the best education they ever had, and all of them eventually completed college. Their parents saw to it that their kids learned and learned well. When parents raise their kids well, 99% turn out well. The first few years of a child’s life are all important. During the first few years, they learn to talk, walk, eat, and do all the basic things we all use and need. These basics all are learned in our first few years, not in a school.
There can be no doubt but that today’s public schools are a disaster, and incredibly expensive. America used to be first in scholastic achievement, and now I understand we are 27th. Industry has to import foreign engineers and doctors, because our public schools do not thoroughly educate, but for all practical purposes, ’baby sit’ kids who have been raised poorly. A hundred years ago, when there was no welfare (a future column), parents raised their kids at the academic level, and I.Q. level they possessed, and it all worked out just fine. They were well prepared for school. Parents of a factory worker, mechanic, truck driver, railroad engineer, or any of a hundred different jobs, used their influence so that their kids would follow dad, and make a decent living. The few parents who were well educated, cultured, and achievers, raised their kids in the same way, and those children turned out like their parents. My Mom read to me as a child, and home schooled me till I went to kindergarten. My kids had the same treatment, and also went to a pre-school. It’s a pity that all parents don’t raise their kids well. They simply say, "Let the schools teach them," and this is how government has weakened and harmed us American citizens. Since school attendance became compulsory, and equally compulsory property taxes are used to pay for them, there has been no limit on expenditures for public school buildings and teachers. Naturally, the federal government became involved when Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education in 1980. The American Federation of Teachers was founded n 1916, making it now virtually impossible to fire a teacher for any reason.
By removing the parental responsibility to raise and educate children, far too many of the working and lower classes have shrugged off a parental duty to raise children properly. Bureaucrats insist that more beautiful, air conditioned, spectacular, school facilities, are be the key to school performance, but like Roosevelt’s effort to get us out of the great depression, spending doesn’t work. Where I live, the schools were air conditioned few years ago, even though they are out for the summer. Like all governmental intrusions into what should be individual lives and conduct, the results are dire, to put it mildly. Today, government schools turn out functional illiterates who cannot read a timetable or book. The few parents who have raised their kids well and seen to it that they are educated, either at home, in a private school, or who get involved in what education a public school may provide, have kids they are proud of and who will be achievers and successful. Yes, I went to a private school, and so did my kids for most of our educations. My parents and my wife and I cared, taught, and read to us. We were never told to shut up, and received answers to all our kids’ questions.
In an effort to correct many of public school’s problems, ’charter schools’ have been created, which supposedly will correct some of the public school’s and parent’s shortcomings. Time will tell. Can’t you see that if there had been no compulsory public schools, education would have been for profit, and highly competitive. Schools would have competed with each other for their location, specialties, and even cost. Why does a bricklayer need algebra or a mechanic need trig? Perhaps a father is a chef, and he wants his son to follow in his steps. There are hundreds of examples of parents at all levels, who, if they had not "let the schools teach them," and had looked after their children’s progress in life, as they should have, the delinquency rate and crime rate would be cut to a minimum. It’s the first few years which set the child’s entire life, and if they are born and raised poorly,
Government involvement in education, has caused property taxes to be sky high, because that’s how most of school expenses are paid. Childless? Kids grown? Home schooling? Matters not, those property taxes continue for anyone who owns a home, and if you rent an apartment or home, the rent is tagged to the property taxes the property owner must pay. School graduation rates are at an all time low, and those who do graduate, mostly are useless in the work place, because they are the output of government regulated, mostly unionized, taxpayer supported, schools, which attempts to teach what government says they will teach, in a fantastic set of facilities which knows no end of taxpayer improvements, which have little to nothing to do with education. The one room schoolhouse, which was not government or taxpayer supported, and which probably used a McGuffy’s Reader as a textbook, turned out incredibly well educated kids who were well fit for life’s challenges. Today, most college graduates couldn’t possibly pass a test from a McGuffy’s reader, which elementary school kids used to have to do a hundred years ago in a one room schoolhouse. Property taxes were microscopic, government had little to no involvement, and none at the federal level.
Public schools got off to a fairly good start a hundred years ago, but like all things ’public,’ the very word ’public’ is contrary to the freedoms the Founders intended. The Founders did not include ’education’ in the Constitution, which document told government what it could do. All things ’public,’ seem to eventually fail badly, and cost hugely. Things not ’public,’ but ’private,’ are profit making, competitive, and like all businesses, provide the best services, variety, or merchandise, and at the lowest cost, with no government involvement. Government, by its very nature, will invariably grow in size, power, and involvement, in all areas it can, with no regard to efficiency, cost, or need. As government grows in size, cost, and inefficiency, it destroys incentive, freedom, happiness, prosperity, and citizen independence. Today, we see mostly union dominated, expensive, ineffective, taxpayer crippling, public schools, turning out uneducated kids, who may be able to work at a McDonald’s, but only since rather than having to figure out change, need only to push picture buttons to order, and enter the amount tendered. Is the word ’tendered’ familiar to public school graduates? An interesting book you may enjoy, is "Is Public Education Necessary?" By Samuel Blumefeld.
P.S. I HAVE RETIRED. I’ll be 81 February 17th, and have spent my life doing great things such as always working for myself, raising fine kids, and using my brain for writing thousands of columns, five books, being president of a Toastmasters Club, Symphony, Theatre Pipe Organ Society, Kiwanis Club, and on lots of boards. I’ve been in "Who’s Who," acted many times in a couple of theatre groups and in a film, traveled extensively, sold over a billion dollars worth of gold and silver, and am a life member of five historical societies. I’ve had a great life, and am not going to be tied to a desk any longer. The phone’s still hooked up, and if needed, I can come back if necessary, but I doubt that it will happen. I’ll continue to write these columns, skipping a week here and there while traveling, and there are still 300 copies of "I Hold These Truths," waiting to be shipped at no profit to me for $9.95. I am shocked that the entire thousand didn’t sell instantly, since hundreds of thousands have read, and still read these columns. Guess it was a waste of time re-printing it.