The Nazis (National Socialists) in Germany before and during World War II
had a government monopoly on education. This socialistic approach allowed
the Nazis to take the children from the parents for the majority of each day and
"educate" them with propaganda to such an extent that children were informing on
on their own parents (who were often sent to the concentration camps and then to
to the ovens). Today, we see this same trend in our grade schools with the
intent by our socialist educators to make the children wards of the state.This is a one-page summary of the problem introduced by a socialistic
school system and used by the socialist nations to subvert the youth of
America. Even the grade schools have been compromised to the point
that the only viable solution appears to be the one provided by school choice.Placed on this website on May 20, 2008, because it is a pivotal issue for freedom.
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Summary of COMING TOGETHER FOR A COMMON GOAL by Gordon St. Angelo
From The School Choice Advocate, Volume 13, Issue 1
Woodrow Wilson once wrote: "No doubt a lot of nonsense has been talked about the inalienable rights of the individual, and a great deal that was mere sentiment and pleasing speculation has been put forward as fundamental principle."
Walter Rauschenbush, the theologian who led the Socialistic Gospel movement in the late 1800s, expressed the same sentiments in a much simpler way: "Individualism means tyranny."
This is the philosophy - an anti-individual, centralizing, socialistic and totalitarian vision - that we fought in World War II and that Ronald Reagan defeated in the 1980s when America won the Cold War. In many ways, we are fighting over the same principles today in areas of school choice, health care and the environment. Unfortunately, this time we are not fighting some obvious enemy on some obvious battleground. We are fighting ourselves.
On one side are those who believe that government is, on the whole, better than individuals at providing services and more capable of solving societal problems, even the ones it created in the first place. On this view, individuals are almost incapable of taking care of themselves.
On the other side of the fight are those who believe in more classical liberal philosophy - people like Adam Smith and Milton and Rose Friedman. Governments get their power only through the consent of the governed, individuals have inalienable rights, society is better off when institutional arrangements are bilateral and voluntary, and everyone benefits when individuals have the freedom to make informed, non-coerced choices. Society organized around the free choices of individuals is better than society organized around the power of the state.
Nowhere is this philosophical fight for our country's heart more evident than in K-12 education. Government is not content to fund education; it also owns and operates about 90 percent of all schools. Imagine the quality of cars if the government owned 90 percent of all automobile factories! Government not only requires school attendance, it assigns you to a school based on your address. The resulting lack of choice hurts everyone, but it disproportionately affects low-income families that are unable to move or pay for private school tuition. Simply put, government has a dictatorial monopoly in K-12 education.
On the opposite side of this view stand the principles of Milton and Rose Friedman. The Friedmans argued that the most effective way to improve education is to separate government financing of education from government ownership of schools by giving parents the economic freedom to choose a school that works best for their child. They envisioned a voluntary system directed by parents, the consumers of education.
The Friedman Foudation for Educational Choice continues the fight for this vision... [The next part of the article focuses upon content of the magazine and is not being shown here.]
We are not only fighting to change the educational system, although achieving that victory would go a long way to solving many of our other problems. Ultimately we are fighting to stem the tide of rising socialism that threatens to rip our country in half. Our choice is strikingly simple. Either we believe the power of the state takes precedence over choices of the individual, or we believe the individual takes precedence over the state. This is our fight and we will stand strong, as the socialistic impulse shows to signs of going away.
From the same magazine as the above from a small article by Al Ensley.
...The foundation also addressed the teacher's union claim that property taxes are a stable source of revenue in times of economic downturn. Since property taxes ... are now more closely tied to changes in property values than before, they are actually more likely to be sensitive to economic downturns than other sources of funding.
Finally, the foundation research indicated that tying school funding to property taxes establishes an inequitable funding system because property tax revenue is not student-centered. Property taxes are not tied to enrollment or students' needs. A fair school funding system would ensure that funding follows enrollment and students who are harder to teach (e.g. special needs students) are provided with the resources that they need.
On March 14, the Indiana General Assembly agreed that public school funding should not be based on zip codes, but on students and their needs. Although school choice legislation was not passed, this was still a small, positive step toward making public school funding more equitable and transparent.
This is a short summary of an article outlining the problems we face with higher education in the United States and their solutions. The entire article is 3 1/2 pages long and is very well written. It includes examples and specifics that make it well worth reading. This summary is being placed on this website on July 20, 2008, because it is a pivotal issue for freedom.
Summary of AGAINST THE CARTEL - How to reform higher education by John Hood
From the June 16,2008, issue of National Review
Although the Constitution does not give Congress the right to interfere in any way with higher education, Congress does so and will probably continue to do so. Since Congress has done and still does such a poor job in regard to higher education, it must be re-directed in the proper direction.
Problems
1. There is a myth that college graduates earn more than those who have not attended college. Studies have shown that this is not true. In fact, many who have college degrees have chosen to take jobs that do not require any college education, and many who have the qualifications to attend college do not choose to do so.
2. Students are not learning adequately in most colleges - in fact, they often score less on tests at graduation than they did before entering college. This lack of knowledge even applies to Left-wing propaganda - because most of the students are not very interested in learning.
3. Most colleges and universities have become big businesses that provide large salaries to their administration and faculty; finance research on subjects in which the answers are already known; and fund hospitals, auxiliary services, and other non-educational endeavors.
4. Federal funding, subsidies, etc. to colleges or universities usually go to more of the above rather than education. This allows the institutions to say that they need more funding for education. The funding is provided and then funneled into more academic preening and political activism.
5. About 3/4 of all college students attend public universities, where taxpayers shoulder a large percentage of the costs, and government grants and subsidized loans shoulder much of the remaining costs. Most families pay only a fraction of the actual costs, which makes education seem less expensive that it actually is. The result is lower tuition which attracts many who should not be attending college. The demand for a college education goes up so that the institutions have an incentive to raise tuition and fees - and they get more money without losing many students. Tuition hikes make voters call for more subsidies, which makes college seem less expensive again, and the colleges pocket the subsidies.
Solutions
1. Replace end loan subsidies and direct grants to educational institutions with student grants and tax credits.
This gives the students choices as to where to best find a real education. The competition will cause the institutions of higher learning to either deliver or close their doors.2. Promote competition in higher education.
This is partly addressed in number one above, but there are other means as well.3. Create centers of educational excellence and serious scholarship.
Alumni and other donors should not simply give money to their old schools. Instead, they should fund various programs and awards for excellence.4. Use courts of law as well as public opinion to defend and expand true academic freedom.
This is being done successfully now by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and David Horowitz' Freedom Center.5. Support a broad-based, national movement for higher education reform.
There are many who are supporting this movement now, but more are needed.
THE WEIGHTED-STUDENT FORMULA
This solution requires that schools be allocated dollars according to the number of students who attend them. Schools with few students will have fewer dollars than schools with many students. This creates incentive for each school administration to improve its appeal to parents so that they will send their children to that particular school. However, this also means that the school be administered locally by the principal rather than unions or the state. Rather than have school system in which each school is a monopoly within its own area, competition is introduced between schools. The schools who do best at educating their students will attract more students and, therefore, more income. Schools who teach politics rather than the three Rs will drop by the wayside. Rather than having more private schools, the public schools can become much like private schools.One area where there might be a problem is with student discipline. Private schools can expel or take less extreme measures to discipline their students. This might be considered too harsh by those who send their children to a public school. But without discipline, the school can have little effect upon the education of each student. In any case, this solution is worth trying.
FRIEDMAN FOUNDATION REPORT
From the Friedman Foundation in August 2008, comes some optimistic news regarding schools. On May 13th, the governor of Georgia signed into law a bill which makes all K-12 students in Georgia's public schools eligible to receive private school scholarships. The idea of limiting school choice based on family income is coming to an end in Georgia. Georgia now joins Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Ohio, and Vermont as a state with a choice program unencumbered with eligility restrictions. There are special now special school choice programs for disabled or foster care students in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Utah.
Unfortunately, the ACLU, the People for the American Way, the Arizona Education Association, and others attempted to rob 117 kids with special needs disabilities and 140 kids in foster care of private school education. The Supreme Court has ruled otherwise in Cleveland, and the battle in Arizona is still in the courts. Those who are part of the public school system fear any force that might endanger their monopoly.
Taken from NEWS FROM THE FRONT published by the FREEDOM CENTER
David Horowitz was at one time a Communist. He has since become a major force against Communism. He had some positive messages in his October 2009 newsletter. He states: "Many Americans have gone from hopefulness, through unease, to a state of alarm as the President shows a radical side not in evidence during his campaign. To understand Obama's presidency, Americans need to know more about the man and nature of his political ideas. In particular, they need to become familiar with a Chicago radical named Saul Alinsky and the strategy he devised to promote social change.
"Of no other occupant of the White House can it be said that he owed his understanding of the political process to a man and a philosophy so outside the American mainstream, or so explicitly dedicated to opposing it...
"I understand better than most Alinsky's deep, deep hatred of America. A hate that ran so deep he wrote a blueprint for tearing our nation down. And while I outgrew and repented my anti-Americanism, and came to see how great and generous our country is, many agents of the radical left never grew up. In fact, today many of them are leaders in Congress and in our White House, all embracing Alinsky's Rules for Radicals - the roadmap for turning our nation upside down...
"You and I must counter [the leftists]. The Freedom Center willingly takes on the Paul Revere role. We have a massive media blitz planned including appearances on Glenn Beck and other widely viewed talk shows detailing precisely the radical transformation we're undergoing.
"I have just completed a new booklet that we are distributing on college campuses this semester. This booklet titled Barack Obama's Rules for Revolution paints a clear picture of Barack Obama's real agenda for our nation."
Words by John Perazzo from his article on Glenn Beck
In recent weeks, Glenn Beck has elevated political-news television to an entirely new level. Without fealty to any particular party, he is shining a light into the dark corners of a political cesspool that has been hidden for too long. He is taking the esoteric and making it accessible; taking the complex and making it simple. The result: Millions of Americans are waking up and beginning to understand, often for the first time, exactly what the left is all about.
At the David Horowitz Freedom Center, we're honored that one of the most vital resources from which Beck draws information... is our online encyclopedia of the left at www.DiscoverTheNetworks.org. It was our hope that by putting the networks, funders and covert agendas of the left up on the web, we would awaken Americans to the internal threat to their freedoms from the legions of what is misnamed the "progressive" left... Since we launched DiscoverTheNetworks in February 2005, more that 20 million people have visited the site. But Glenn Beck is reaching over half that number of Americans every single day.
A thorough researcher who does plenty of homework in preparation for his program, Beck has perhaps done more than any other broadcaster to make Americans keenly aware of so many vital facts that few others in the media have ever even mentioned. For instance, he has stressed the immense significance of Saul Alinsky, the late godfather of radical "community organizing" - and probably the single most formative tactical influence on Barack Obama during his years as a political neophyte.
Alinsky's blueprint for social upheaval and revolution largely eschewed any form of confrontational defiance that might scare off or alienate ordinary Americans. Instead, he stressed the need for revolutionaries to mask the extremism of their objectives and to deceitfully present themselves as moderates until they could gain some control over the machinery of political power. No source, anywhere, offers a clearer or more comprehensive exposition of Alinsky's tactics, and by extension of Obama's campaign strategies, than DiscoverTheNetworks. Glenn Beck has helped bring this information to the American people, presenting it in a way that everyone can understand...
From Fall Campus Report
As conservative student organizations regroup for the new semester, students on prominent campuses all across the nation have decided to participate in David Horowitz Freedom Center's Fall campus campaign... So far at least 31 campuses are participating..., including Columbia University, Temple University, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt, Washington University, Ohio State, and George Washington University... Additional campuses are joining the effort daily...
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