Education and the People’s State of California January 8, 2009
Posted by Beth in Education.trackback
This is my blog for matters on family, friends and homeschooling. I have another blog where I discuss politics and economics, and I have tried to keep politics to a minimum on this site. However…..the long arm of the government reaches into our daily lives in many ways, especially that of education. Sometimes I just have to protest!
Get a load of these quotes!
‘Parent choice’ proceeds from the belief that the purpose of education is to provide individual students with an education. In fact, educating the individual is but a means to the true end of education, which is to create a viable social order to which individuals contribute and by which they are sustained. ‘Family choice’ is, therefore, basically selfish and anti-social in that it focuses on the ‘wants’ of a single family rather than the ‘needs’ of society.
— Association of California School Administrators
Should be no surprise when you realize John Dewey was one of the most influential educational philosophers for the American government school system.
“Children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society which is coming where everyone is interdependent.”
— John Dewey
(1859-1952) American philosopher, psychologist, professor, and progressive educational reformer
And from the teachers union:
“The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience.”
— National Education Association Resolution (2003)
To the writers I these statements I reply:
Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers; for their education is but the mere breaking in of the steer to the yoke; the mere discipline of the hunting dog, which, by dint of severity, is made to forego the strongest impulse of his nature, and instead of devouring his prey, to hasten with it to the feet of his master.
— Thomas Hodgskin
Mechanics’ Magazine, 11 October 1823, Ref: Class and Conflict in Nineteenth-century England, 1815-1850, by Patricia Hollis
Thanks to Liberty-Tree.ca for the quotes.
P.S. I don’t think education need be as Hodgskin describes, but when education is politicized, as it must be when government runs the system, then danger is far too great. Currently 80% of K-12 students are taught by the government. The government is a primary source of their understanding of the proper role of government in our lives. Is it any surprise that government has grown into such a behemoth?
AisA Academy 
Great quotes. Add to your list a proposal from Bill Ayers (a buddy of our soon-to-be Pres) that teachers “be aware of the social and moral universe we inhabit and . . . be a teacher capable of hope and struggle, outrage and action, a teacher teaching for social justice and liberation.” (from http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/bill_ayers_and_the_subversion.html) Of course, the kind of social justice he refers to is Wealth Redistribution, Socialism, and subjugation of America to the needs of the World. Ah, well. Why worry? Why ask questions that have no meaning? Who is John Galt?
Beth, these quotes send chills down my spine. Truely!
They reminds me of Hitler, Mao, The Hamas, and other dictators who did not have the word ‘Individual’ in their vocabulary and who caused suffering and death to millions of individuals.
Just for the purpose of reaching more audience- you may want to consider puting these quotes on your economy blog. It will be easy to find a connection.
Beth, thanks for this post. A stark reminder of why I do what I do. Educating our children outside of the system can be a worrying endeavor sometimes, but to read quotes like this helps me feel my strength in the face of uncertainty and doubt. So often, I feel like home schooling is one of the most radical ways we, as individuals, can create change and that it is a profound GIFT to society- allowing our children to continue becoming people who THINK and QUESTION.
Amen!