This oughta make the extreme rightwing homeschoolers happy

[Freyacat]

A Tea Party group operating in several states has admitted that its goal is to shut down public schools. They are scary. What's scarier is how much more widespread this sort of idea is becoming in the US.

http://www.truth-out.org/tea-party-grou ... 1310493891

[ladypuglover]

It will never happen as most parents don't or for a good reason can't home school. I might have but I don't feel that I could have homeschool with a swiss cheese education myself and my sons had IEPs. Homeschool would have failed my sons unless I homeschooled along with public school.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Never gonna happen! I have a hard time seeing anyone but the very extreme going along with this idea.

And why, oh why, do these people hate our country so much? Stupid blowhards. There are 4 private schools (2 protestant, 1 Catholic, and 1 secular) in my city limits vs. more than a dozen elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 2 high schools (and there are many, many more in the county). Are they going to come here and build schools so everyone can have an education? Do they truly believe this particular city, crippled by a multitude of factories shutting down in the last decade, has some wonderful benefactor who's going to donate millions and millions to get these kids a proper education? Yeah, right.

[doggie]

if that happened we would be come a 3rd world country. what thats what god wants for us to be so poor and un educated that anyone could run over us?

[Chrystal-J]

It's never gonna happen. This sounds like one of those 'scare stories' to try to get money for their organization. I've noticed that a lot in politics (political groups) lately.

[Lillybee]

It is one way to cripple the teacher's union . When I worked for social services in my town, the teachers who worked for Christian fundie schools would come in and apply for cash aid and food stamps in the summer. They were usually paid under 1200 per month and were not eligible for uib because they worked for a non profit who did not pay into the unemployment system. I always felt that they were treated like dirt by their Christian bosses.

[Freyacat]

Oh, I'm definitely not worried it will actually happen! It just scares me that there are so many people in this country now who are so against anything publically funded or run by the government that a group that holds this opinion is getting airtime and funding. But then I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since it seems like the crazier the idea, the more the media loves to talk (and talk and talk) about it.

[Nothing2CHere]

“Our ultimate goal is to shut down public schools and have private schools only, eventually returning responsibility for payment to parents and private charities. It’s going to happen piecemeal and not overnight. It took us years to get into this mess and it’s going to take years to get out of it.â€

I can't afford to send my (future) children to private schools, and even though I'm a college graduate who had a teaching degree, I don't want to teach them myself, either. I much rather save the tuition money for private grade school to pay for their future college instead. Thanks, Tea Party, for trying to away my choice for how to educate my children!

[debrand]

A Tea Party group operating in several states has admitted that its goal is to shut down public schools. They are scary. What's scarier is how much more widespread this sort of idea is becoming in the US.

http://www.truth-out.org/tea-party-grou ... 1310493891

I'm a homeschooler and it doesn't make me happy. Not everyone can or should homeschool. Even with very involved parents, not all kids want to be homeschooled. Why should the choice to attend a public school be taken from them.

My prediction is that if public schools are closed down America will become a country with extremes of poverty and wealth.

[starfish]

I've known that was a goal of a lot of fundies, but I'm surprised that someone has had the nerve to publicly state it. I think Voddie Baucham would openly join in these sentiments.

I wonder if we'll see folks brave enough to state that their real reason for attacking Planned Parenthood/abortion laws/birth control is to subjugate and control women. Cause I also think that's behind most of it.

In Texas, the legislators don't say it, but they have been systematically weakening the public school system for about a decade, maybe more I think their ultimate goal is to destroy the public school system. They throw all kinds of money at these horrible charter schools, which are subject to practically NO oversight, and the people who run them make a ton of money. They have increased the testing requirements which are ridiculous. They tie all kinds of financial strings to the testing results. You can forget about Tx teachers having some kind of uniform insurance across the state. They have begged for insurance for years, but the TX legislature refuses to act. I think the reason for this refusal is that every community has some local yokel that wants to sell the school district insurance. The insurance community lobbies the TX leg to prevent unified insurance for Tx teachers. The TX lege is no friend to Tx teachers or the public education system. They are BEST friends however to big utilities, big insurance, payday lenders, etc. Sorry for the rant.

This is the same bunch of dummies that passed the transvaginal abortion probe bill. So much for less govt interference.

[lilwriter85]

I also wouldn't worry about this. Public schools would never be shut down. Many parents can't and wouldn't homeschool their kids.

[starfish]

While I don't think they will be able to muster the shut-down of the public school system, I think you have to be vigilant about watching what your local community and state lege does about public schools. Just like birth control/abortion/Planned Parenthood, groups that are opposed to public schools will come after them in a million ways. It won't be a bill officially shutting down public schools, it will be things like funding charter schools w/o oversight while making ridiculous testing requirements for public schools, etc.

Textbook stuff.

Just like we see with reproductive services. It's death by 1000 cuts. Waiting requirements, sonogram requirements, etc. etc. These folks are sneaky.

[O Latin]

I've known that was a goal of a lot of fundies, but I'm surprised that someone has had the nerve to publicly state it. I think Voddie Baucham would openly join in these sentiments.

I wonder if we'll see folks brave enough to state that their real reason for attacking Planned Parenthood/abortion laws/birth control is to subjugate and control women. Cause I also think that's behind most of it.

In Texas, the legislators don't say it, but they have been systematically weakening the public school system for about a decade, maybe more I think their ultimate goal is to destroy the public school system. They throw all kinds of money at these horrible charter schools, which are subject to practically NO oversight, and the people who run them make a ton of money. They have increased the testing requirements which are ridiculous. They tie all kinds of financial strings to the testing results. You can forget about Tx teachers having some kind of uniform insurance across the state. They have begged for insurance for years, but the TX legislature refuses to act. I think the reason for this refusal is that every community has some local yokel that wants to sell the school district insurance. The insurance community lobbies the TX leg to prevent unified insurance for Tx teachers. The TX lege is no friend to Tx teachers or the public education system. They are BEST friends however to big utilities, big insurance, payday lenders, etc. Sorry for the rant.

This is the same bunch of dummies that passed the transvaginal abortion probe bill. So much for less govt interference.

Not to derail the thread, but the WHAT? I am very curious to know what that is.

[slickcat79]

Not to derail the thread, but the WHAT? I am very curious to know what that is.

If I'm understanding correctly, I think starfish is referencing the recent bills being considered by several states to require ultrasounds before scheduling an abortion. 7-8 week (or earlier) fetuses are difficult to detect via abdominal ultrasound, so most of them have to be done via vaginal probe. Which is super awesome if you're pregnant as a result of rape, or have those triggers.

[GenerationCedarchip]

I doubt they would be able to completely do away with public schools, but it's still a scary idea. Not only do some people not want to homeschool or do private school, but public schools have been community centers for years. If the system is gone and everyone just has their own SOTDRT, I think communities would just get more and more fragmened.

[BlackHawk]

Not to derail the thread, but the WHAT? I am very curious to know what that is.

Okay.. Texas is a special crazy... This is a link to the article from Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/0 ... 31287.html

(another side note... not to derail either... but Texans think the gov't "banning" incandescent bulbs is an intrusion of privacy... but you can stick a probe inside a woman who is already making a rough decision, or throw two blokes in jail for having "gay sex" and that's not an invasion of privacy??? Goodness.)

[FireIsCatching89]

It is one way to cripple the teacher's union . When I worked for social services in my town, the teachers who worked for Christian fundie schools would come in and apply for cash aid and food stamps in the summer. They were usually paid under 1200 per month and were not eligible for uib because they worked for a non profit who did not pay into the unemployment system. I always felt that they were treated like dirt by their Christian bosses.

Oh my goodness! That is awful! Christian charity my arse. This sort of confirms what I've heard, that with a few exceptions, it's better to be a public school teacher than a private one.

Can I also assume that their benefits package was less than stellar, as well?

[clibbyjo]

That will never happen. No worries.

[Rosa]

But they can defund like crazy. Our governor just announced he's going to sign a budget bill to end the shutdown, and it will include "shifting" $700 million of school funding from this year to next year. That is, cutting the education budget for this year by $700 million.

[starfish]

Tx calls it the "sonogram" bill, but the reality is that the sonograms will be done/have to be done using a transvaginal probe. I don't think there's any exceptions, either. Ectopic pregnancy? Get probed. Raped? Get probed. It is also mandated that you hear a description about the fetus.

The odd thing is that the TX leg attempted to pass an "anti-groping" law aimed at TSA that sought to prevent excessive groping by airline TSA agents.

I think the male legislators feared a TSA agent would touch them in their privates, and they would like it. Accompanying the anti-groping bill was all this hoopla about govt infringing on our rights, interference in our personal matters, etc. Cooler heads prevailed, and it did not pass. Not that excessive groping is good, but I didn't like the idea of the FAA banning all flights in/out of TX.

[maybeizfundie]

Ugh. Beyond stupid. One of the beauties of this country is access to free education. It's good that families don't have to decide whether to eat or pay school fees for their kids.

I'm a homeschooler, but I don't think shutting down public schools is a grand idea at all. Not everybody has the ability to homeschool, nor the means to pay for private school.

Frankly, most of the homeschoolers I know wouldn't be very gung-ho about this. They don't like the system of education (and consider private schools to be just as bad, often) and they don't like the mandates/restrictions that affect their homeschooling, but their "vision" is not to rid the world of public schools. Freedom to choose, yes. Maybe changes in the educational system (because they don't believe it benefits students as much as it could). But this is the first I've heard someone wanting to get rid of them altogether.

[LeatherCouch]

Another homeschooler here who is not happy about this. Homeschooling does not necessarily equal abhorrence of public school.

[GeoBQn]

Thanks to a proliferation of private and charter schools, Milwaukee public schools are suffering. Private and charter schools can be more selective about what students they accept. As a result, the public schools are required take on the burden of troublemaking kids, disabled kids, unmotivated kids, and kids who have already been kicked out of the private and charter schools. There's a disability advocacy group suing the city, claiming that the voucher program and charter schools are discriminatory against disabled children.

[Freyacat]

I'm a homeschooler and it doesn't make me happy. Not everyone can or should homeschool. Even with very involved parents, not all kids want to be homeschooled. Why should the choice to attend a public school be taken from them.

My prediction is that if public schools are closed down America will become a country with extremes of poverty and wealth.

You are right, and my thread title shouldn't have implied that all homeschoolers would like this. I meant the ones who are so far rightwing that they want to see the government completely defunded (except for military spending) and so fundie they think it's horrible parenting to do anything other than homeschool with wisdom booklets or similar material. I should not have included all homeschoolers. :) I changed the thread title to be more clear.

Sadly, America is already becoming more of a country with extremes of poverty and wealth than it was thirty years ago... I am hoping that pattern stops before it gets really bad.

[Freyacat]

While I don't think they will be able to muster the shut-down of the public school system, I think you have to be vigilant about watching what your local community and state lege does about public schools. Just like birth control/abortion/Planned Parenthood, groups that are opposed to public schools will come after them in a million ways. It won't be a bill officially shutting down public schools, it will be things like funding charter schools w/o oversight while making ridiculous testing requirements for public schools, etc.

Textbook stuff.

Just like we see with reproductive services. It's death by 1000 cuts. Waiting requirements, sonogram requirements, etc. etc. These folks are sneaky.

You're right, and that's chilling. Defund a little more here, regulate a little tighter there, and soon the public schools will be so bad that the only kids in them are those that can not afford anything else. That has already happened in some US cities, and the school system has become worse and worse in those areas. My own state just drastically cut education spending, especially at the university level. I have a toddler, and I'm very concerned about whether he and his peers will have access to good schools over the next twenty years. :(