Has it really been over 2 months since we made a post? No excuses, other than we’ve been so busy DOING homeschool we haven’t had much time to WRITE about homeschooling. But we did run across this provocative article, part of which we wanted to share with you. It was written by Don Stott as part of a series entitled “Killing America”.

Don usually writes on investment matters, but this time he hit the nail on the head when he included his perspective on education in America. Here is the excerpt:

“Originally, there were no public schools.  Everyone taught their kids at home.  Literally, or in a private or religious school. Caring, smart parents taught them well, and the kids succeeded. 

America, a hundred years ago was far more educated and cultured than now.  By knowledge and skills of reading, math and other subjects, the eighth grader of a hundred years ago compares equally with today’s college student or maybe even graduate. This was without any public schools.  The stupid parents who didn’t teach or show caring, demonstrated it in their kids who failed in life, probably died early, and didn’t become a burden on the rest of society. 

Next, there were thousands of one room schoolhouses, paid for by the local populace, and these schools did very well, but it was the beginning of large public schools, which seem to be not much more than baby sitters.  Home schooling has once again become the smart thing to do by caring parents, because they realize that government schools are a disaster, like every other government scheme and “program.” 

Public schools, now consume three quarters of all property taxes, and do a lousy, expensive job.  Catholic parents usually send their kids to parochial schools, which are in no way “public,” and not paid for by taxpayers.  Wealthy parents may have sent, and still do, send their kids to private schools, not paid for by taxes, and they always did, and still do a fine job.

Government schools had to fail, like all “programs” fail, because of inefficiency and cost.  The failure and cost of public schools is partially responsible for populating the streets of America with thugs, criminals, druggies, shoplifters, burglars, rapists, and all sorts of riff-raff, which should be dead, and maybe not have been born in the first place, probably. 

Trash, uneducated, uncaring people, seem to multiply at enormous rates and cause a lot of crime, don’t they?  Cruel, ungodly, and coarse?  Maybe, but picture America if there had never been a public school, and every child had been home schooled or sent to a private school, paid for by its parents, with little or no property taxes, and no terrible, microscopic educating in failing public schools. 

There would be thousands and thousands of private schools operating for profit, and competing with each other for achievement, being used by parents who chose not to home school.  No teachers unions, and inept teachers.  There couldn’t be, because competition in the market wouldn’t allow for it. 

There would be schools specializing in cooking, engineering, language, math, or whatever the parents chose for their kids.  There would be an abundance of religious schools, paid for by churches and parents of pupils, but no drain on taxpayers of any kind, and superb education.

The public school system, even in small towns like the one I live in, have proved to be expensive disasters.  Homeowners are being taxed severely to pay for these incompetent, inefficient, poorly educating, sinkholes of fading dollars. 

So ingrained have public schools and Social Security become in the American mind, that most will disagree with my thesis.  They will moan and groan about how, “We have to care for old people and educate the children,” even though facts and logic prove that the opposite has happened, and cost a fortune in dollars and crime.  America has inflicted wounds on itself over the last hundred years, because the general public opinion is that, “People need to be helped and taught,” regardless of the cost or lack of success at either. 

Perhaps 1% of America will agree with me on this first part, because they are so mind numbed by government propaganda, the media, and the garbage they themselves have learned in classrooms of public schools. 

Government and “programs” always come out ahead, and are painted as glorious and wonderful by the media, schools, and bureaucrats.  They are the opposite, and are partly responsible for the killing of America. 

Once something gets started, regardless of the total illogic of it, such as public schools and Social Security, there is a zero chance of obliterating it, because so many have become dependent, and thereby weak.  How can a nation survive if it is weak?”

Source: Don Stott

Whoa, we can hear the paint blistering on the public school walls and Capitol Hill as well after that one, LOL. Hope you were sitting down when you read it…