Public Schools, Public Menace:
How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children
Preface
Many parents have children who do poorly in public school, fail in their studies, or can't adjust to crowded, impersonal classrooms or indifferent teachers. Millions of other parents have children who find school boring, frustrating, or meaningless. I will argue in this book that in most cases the problem lies with the public schools, not with our children. It turns out that millions of children have good reasons to hate public schoool, reasons that parents should not ignore.
Parents whose children are doing well in their studies often don't see a problem with their local public school. But for these parents, what if the school has been deceiving you? What if school authorities dumb-down the textbooks and manipulate test and report-card grades to make you believe your children are doing well in school, when in fact they are not?
What if, despite your children's good grades and glowing report cards, your public school cripples your children's ability to read, smothers their desire to learn, warps their values, and wastes twelve years of their lives? Worse, what if these schools betray your children so school employees get to keep their tenure-guaranteed jobs?
One glaring indication that our public schools have become an educational menace to our children is the frightening literacy statistics we read about in study after study. For example, in 2002, New York State's Education Department issued its second annual Report that included public-school students' math and reading scores. The Report found that 65 percent of elementary-school students, 90 percent of middle-school students, and 84 percent of high-school students failed to meet minimum New York State math and reading standards.1 This appalling illiteracy is not confined to New York students—other studies show similar results from public schools across the country.
Most public-school teachers, principals, and administrators are intelligent, hardworking, and dedicated people. Also, most children are intelligent and literally born with a burning desire to learn about the world around them. So why do public schools keep failing millions of children, year after year, no matter how hard school officials try or how much tax money we give them?
If public schools keep failing our children despite the best efforts of well-intentioned educators, perhaps it is time we ask some fundamental questions about the system itself. Why do we need public schools at all? Why can't parents simply buy education for their children in an open, unregulated free-market, the same way they buy food or clothing for their children or a car for themselves? Is there something unique about education that we should make it a compulsory government monopoly like the Post Office? Has education always been controlled by the government? What does "education" really mean, and what is the best way to give our children a low-cost, quality education? These are the kinds of questions that led me to investigate our public-school system and write this book.
When a social, economic, or political system has seemingly intractable problems, there are usually deep, underlying reasons at fault. Usually, the foundation of the system is rotten. To find out why public schools continually fail, and to find better alternatives, I examined the foundations of our public-school system.
In doing my research, I soon realized that the fundamental problem with our public schools is not ill-trained teachers, lack of money, broken-down school buildings, or overcrowded classrooms. These are only secondary effects of the root problem. The main reason our public schools fail, and will continue to fail, is because they are a compulsory, government-run, near-total education monopoly. The root problem is that local and state governments control 1st through 12th grade education in our country and suppress a voluntary free-market education system.
I also researched alternative education systems that succeeded in the past, before we had public schools. I discovered that government-run, compulsory public schools are a fairly new phenomenon in this country, and became fully entrenched only after the late 1890's. For over two hundred years before public schools came along, education in America was voluntary, and literacy rates were far higher than they are today. For over two hundred years before we had public schools, parents controlled how, when, and where to educate their children, with little government interference. Parents were free to buy education in a vibrant education free market of unlicensed, low-cost local tutors, private schools, church schools, and colleges. Millions of average parents taught their kids to read at home with the Bible or inexpensive learn-to-read primers such as McGuffy's Readers.
If this voluntary education system succeeded for over two hundred years, why not bring it back? I realized that if we gave parents this same precious freedom today, our children could get a quality education most parents could afford and most kids would enjoy.
The problem, however, is that we've now had public schools for over a hundred years, so many parents today find it hard to imagine better alternatives. As bad as public schools are, parents think of them as the norm, as American as apple pie. One purpose of my book is to show parents that they should not accept these schools and the failed education they give our children as the norm, and that in many ways public schools are deeply unAmerican.
The second goal of my book is to show parents there are real, exciting, low-cost alternatives to public schools. These alternatives work, and I will argue that parents can and should embrace these alternatives to give their children the education they need and deserve.
However, the idea of public schools is still deeply embedded in most parents' minds. As a result, I believe that only when parents understand how destructive public schools can be to their children, will they consider the alternatives available to them right now.
Parents have different opinions about our public schools today. Many low-income minority parents are fed up with the violent, drug-infested schools in their neighborhood, schools that barely teach their children to read. Year after year, these parents plead with school authorities to do something about the schools, but to no avail.
Many middle-class parents also believe that public schools do a poor job educating their children, but they can't afford expensive private schools or are not aware of other education options for their kids. So these parents often suffer with their local schools as best they can.
Other parents believe their local schools are doing a good job, especially parents whose children get good test and report card grades. However, as we will discover later in the book, these parents don't realize how school authorities deceive them into thinking their children are doing better than they really are.
For low-income minority parents, my book will confirm your worst fears about our public schools. You will see how and why these schools betray your children. But I will show you how to rescue your children from these schools, a way out that is in your power right now.
For middle-class parents who think they have no alternatives, my book will explain why you don't have to settle for a third-rate education for your children. You do have alternatives, many excellent, low-cost alternatives that can give your children a first-rate education and a rewarding future.
For those parents who believe that their local school does a good job, this book will explain how many public schools deceive parents into thinking their children are getting a good education, when that is hardly the case.
For all parents, no matter what your current opinion of our public schools, I will endeavor to show that public schools have become a menace to your children, a menace far more dangerous than you might realize. Yes, "menace" is a strong word, but it is a word that fits many public schools today.
Chapter 1 will explore the surprising history of literacy and education in America. We'll see how public schools cripple children's ability to read. We'll also explore why literacy is so important, and how illiteracy can ruin your children's lives.
Chapters 2 through 6 will examine other dangers that threaten children in public schools. We will see how many schools indoctrinate children with anti-parent, anti-Judeo-Christian, and anti-American values. I will explain how public schools especially hurt low-income minority children. We'll discover that many public schools have become legalized drug dealers and smut peddlers, pushing potentially dangerous, mind-altering drugs like Ritalin on millions of children and exposing kids to shocking sexual material. These chapters will examine why public schools get away with their continuing failure, year after year, and why the public-school system is beyond repair.
In Chapter 7, we will explore why the public-school system's real function is to protect the jobs of school bureaucrats and employees. I will also dissect the many excuses school authorities use to rationalize their ongoing failure to give our children the education they need and deserve.
For those parents who wish to take their children out of public school, Chapters 8, 9, and the Resources section will help you find and use many alternative education resources available to you right now. I will also explore many options that let parents educate their kids at home, even if both parents work. These options include Internet schools, Internet charter schools, low-cost teaching books, computer learning software, bookstores, public libraries, and home-schooling.
Over a million parents today homeschool their children with great success. In Chapters 8 and 9, I will answer many important questions parents have about home-schooling and other education options, questions such as "is it worth it?," "can I do it?," "how can I manage the time to homeschool?," and "how do I homeschool if I've never done it before?" We'll also examine twenty-two danger signals from your children that tell you it's time to think about taking them out of public school and looking for better alternatives.
We'll see why and how home-schooling can give your children a great education, and can be much faster, easier, and more affordable than you think. We'll also see how home-schooling can be the most rewarding experience of your life and your children's lives.
Parent-directed home-schooling is only one of many options parents have right now. Internet schools and Internet Charter schools are a new, exciting, and mostly untapped education resource for parents. These schools give children individualized instruction that takes most of the home-schooling load from parents' backs. Most Internet schools cost much less than brick-and-mortar private schools (including Catholic or Protestant-affiliated schools), yet they can give children a high-quality education leading to an accredited diploma and college admission.
It is my hope that this book will convince parents to seriously consider taking their children out of public school, permanently, and take advantage of the many excellent, low-cost education alternatives available to them right now.
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