THE ABSURDITY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL MONOPOLY

The notion that local governments should have almost total monopoly control over our children's education is not only unjust and tyrannical, it is also absurd. Children need education, to be sure, but they also need food, clothing, and shelter. The same poor or irresponsible parents who public-school apologists claim will not educate their children without compulsion, might not feed, clothe, or shelter them either.

Yet, we do not see local governments owning and operating supermarkets, department stores, or apartment houses. Instead, government food stamp or rent-subsidy programs give temporary financial help or loans to those parents who are too poor to provide for their children.

When it comes to K-12th grade education, however, instead of giving vouchers or other temporary loans or subsidies to poor families so they can pay for their children's education, we've created a government-owned-and-operated monstrosity called public schools.

Millions of parents now pay for private pre-schools, kindergartens, and colleges for their children in a vibrant, competitive, education free-market. Most parents who can't afford college tuition for their kids usually apply for student loans either from a bank or a government agency. Yet for kindergarten through 12th-grade education, suddenly government must step in, treat all parents like idiots or potential child abusers, and own and operate all the schools.

To more fully understand the absurdity of this system, imagine for a moment that well-intentioned government authorities want to make sure that every child has enough to eat, that no child gets "left behind" when it comes to food. To insure this goal, local governments across the country take control of all supermarkets and grocery stores in your town.

Under this new system, bureaucrats now own and operate all food stores, and store workers become tenured civil-service employees who can't be fired. Your local government then passes a new "food tax" to pay for these stores and employees-- salaries. This tax is added to your current real-estate tax bill. If you don't pay this new tax, local government officials can and will foreclose on your home.

Also under this system, suppose the local Food Board forces you and your family to buy from a particular store. The store clerks know you have to shop in their store, and that they can't be fired. As a result, many clerks become lazy, incompent, or arrogant. The store managers have tenure and can't be fired, so they manage the stores badly. The stores can't go out of business because they are subsidized by your compulsory food taxes, so the stores give you poor service and rotten food. If you want to change stores, you have to ask permission from your local Food Board bureaucrat, who will usually refuse your request. Also, changing food stores doesn't accomplish much because they are all the same—all owned aand operated by the same incompetent government food monopoly.

If this system sounds absurd to you, if you would scream bloody murder at having to put up with such a system simply to buy food, why do you put up with such a system when it comes to your children's education? Shouldn't you be looking for education alternatives to rescue your children from incompetent government schools?

The politicians we elect to office are our agents, not our masters. They derive their powers from our consent. They are supposed to represent our interests, follow our instructions, and respect our natural and Constitutional rights as parents. Politicians, bureaucrats, and school authorities therefore have as much right to dictate how we educate our children as a real estate agent has to dictate who we sell our house to and at what price.

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CORRUPT UC IRVINE

Two state senators have called for an inquiry into the University of California, Irvine, following a scandal in its hospital's liver transplant unit and concerns over nepotism involving top executives. Sens. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, and Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, on Tuesday called on the heads of two senate committees to hold a joint hearing to address "exceptions made in university policy, favoritism charges (and) lack of transparency and disclosure" at UCI. The lawmakers said no one has been held accountable for repeated problems. "No one's manning the house," Maldonado said. "Who's in charge? Why have all these problems happened at UCI? Is there a systematic problem there? The bottom line is too many unanswered questions."

Federal agencies are investigating UCI for possible fraudulent billing related to its now-closed liver transplant program. UCI shut down the program in November following federal reports that more than 30 patients died on its waiting list in 2004 and 2005, even as the hospital turned down scores of organs that might have saved some of them. During that period, UCI had no full-time liver transplant surgeon.

Questions have also been raised about the hiring of top executives' close relatives in the medical school and medical center, and the awarding of a residency position to the son of a donor to the school. In each case, UCI investigations concluded that nothing was wrong. A university spokeswoman said UCI had taken steps to address problems since the liver program was shuttered that include convening an independent panel of experts to review the medical problems and recommend changes. "UCI has aggressively addressed these problems since the liver issues came to our attention in November," said spokeswoman Susan Menning.

Source




Gradeless courses under fire in Western Australia

One of Western Australia's chief examiners, who has vowed to quit over the state's controversial "gradeless" curriculum being rolled out into Years 11 and 12 classrooms, claims the system is too subjective and will backfire. Jan Bishop said the new system was filled with "gobbledegook" and would cause inequities in how students were graded. Her claims were backed yesterday by former chief examiner Bill Leadbetter, who described the new courses as "content free".

Mrs Bishop helped write the new history course but stepped aside from that role last year over what she described as the Curriculum Council's insistence on writing the course using meaningless language. Mrs Bishop has signalled she will resign next year, 12 months before her contract as chief history examiner ends. She said the marking process, in which teachers decide at which of eight levels a student has performed, was complicated and subjective. "There are major problems with this system and teachers are having difficulties properly assessing students' work because they don't understand," she told The Weekend Australian.

The Carpenter Government has faced increasing pressure to delay the rollout of 17 outcomes-based subjects. Under the new system, all subjects are equal and students achieve at their own level. Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has raised concerns over Western Australia's outcomes-based education system, claiming it is "inevitable" that standards will fall.

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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