I'm a public school teacher and advocate, but I still recognize that public schools are not for everyone. And that every public school is not the same.
#64 | POSTED BY PRAGMATIST AT 2009-11-05 06:30 PM
Not for everyone, just 90% of all Americans. {And prior to 12 years of rw bashing/smearing by reagan admins (1990) and vouchers for private schools, 95% of ALL Americans were educated in public schools.}
Public schools are one of the tenets of this country that made it great.
Consider first that there are not enough private/parachial schools to educate the 90%, that private/parochial schools can CHOOSE whom to educate and routinely do not educate behavioral, physical or mentally challenged individuals, that teachers vote overwhelmingly for programs/politicians that share their concerns for the welfare of children and education, and you can see why the continual bashing of public schools by rwrs is so very politically, not pragmatically motivated. And there is no profit in running schools, so they will not and cannot be privatized to provide education for much more than the 10% they do.
If not for public education, only the rich students would get educated at all.
What I find duplicitous about homeschoolers is that once they begin to realize (if they do) that their kids are not getting educated/assimilated socially, they then begin to clamor for public schools to provide their kids with extra curricular activities.
And what I find duplicitous about private schooling is how many of their children are transported with public money, while there is a perfectly good public school down the block. How messed up is it when Americans refused to allow busing across cities to achieve racial equality, but then turned around and ok busing private/parochial students ACROSS COUNTIES to attend religious schools at public expense? When gas hit $4 a gallon, that adds up, eh, or even now at those distances.
The two factors affect children being educated most, are POVERTY and PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. Both of these factors are met by private schools who can demand parental involvement and exclude those who cannot pay, (as well, as I already mentioned, any student with "special" needs). So, when people attempt to argue that private schools do a better job, it's an argument of apples and oranges and quite disengenuous, imo.
Finally, as for singing the praises of our potus, I'm so sure these hypocrites who are complaining would have had no problem with rallying students behind bush after 911. What has changed?
Why is it wrong to teach students to value our govt and it's leader? They certainly get enough of the opposite of that from watching any corporate owned media, eh?
