Violence, bullying and intimidation, drugs and immorality, questionable teaching practices, cheating and lying, low standards, low performance, and conflicts with values. Public schools often take a beating in the public press, and often deservedly so -- more and more, parents are choosing to not use the public school systems. It doesn't mean they don't want to see all children educated or have the skills necessary to function as adults; they simply want to ensure that their children are educated to their standards. These are signs of much deeper problems; problems that cannot be blamed on parental involvement (or lack thereof), poverty, poor teacher training, funding, or social factors like the Internet, TV, or music. What makes the problems even more isolated to public schools is that private schools and home schools simply do not have those problems -- and they have less funding, teachers not trained as well, and don't have state 'control' over their activities. Private schools and home schools do a better job of educating children, and do it at lower cost with little or not government interference. That's not opinion -- that is fact. School district administrators and teacher unions think more money and more control are the cure for the problems in public school systems. Most times, money is only a temporary cure for greed, not much else. Instead of address the issues of why people chose home schooling or private schooling, parents that choose other-than-public-schools are vilified, made to seem in the extreme or not supportive of the community -- nothing can be further from the truth. Imagine a world where parents can decide how best to raise, nurture, and educate their children! We had that once -- before the government virtually monopolized education. And before the state and federal government decided that local school districts had to be "controlled." But how did they do that, anyway? MONEY! Simply put, once money flowed away from us at the local level and on to the state and federal level, they dangled pots of money (with PLENTY of strings attached) and now have local schools jumping through hoops, doing dog and pony shows, and pretty much doing everything BUT educating children. Take a look at how much of the local school district's budget comes from state and federal sources; then take a look at how much of that budget goes to administrative overhead and not into the classroom. Pretty sad, really, but it's not a problem we can't correct. Add to this the politicization of "choice" -- as if parents have no idea what is best for their own children! Government is not the answer, it's the problem. Those who choose not to use an expensive, ineffective and many times corrupt system should not be punished or made to be scapegoats. Whatever your reason for choosing to educate your own children is your business, not mine! And it's certainly not the business of the local school district, the state, or federal government -- but they make it their business, don't they? And even more sadly, nothing is going to change with the two-party political system. Oh, you might get incremental change here or there on an issue or two, but nothing is going to happen if we keep voting R or D and expecting real change. The bottom line is parents should not be forced to pay into a system that is broken and getting worse -- Libertarians can help move the issue from the fringes to center stage -- and get it fixed. What are the fixes? Dismantle the broken pieces, give parents true choice -- and let the market place work! Will every child receive the same education? No -- every child doesn't need the same education. Will some children fail and end up as low-wager earners? That happens NOW. To think we only need to spend more money on public schools is not the answer -- TRUE CHOICE IS! I encourage all those who home school and chose private or alternate educational choices to vote Libertarian -- for all the right reason and for the one political party that will make immediate and substantive changes in the status quo. Feel free to contact me for more information -- kevinforliberty@gmail.com or call 1.816.288.2295. Vote Libertarian! |
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Education Choices |