Problems with Public Schools are Nothing New

     Many seem to think that problems with the content of what passes for education in public schools is, somehow, a recent development, maybe a problem for the last twenty years or so, but certainly no longer. If you are one of those folks you need to rethink your position and gain a little perspective in this area. Public schools have been a major problem for longer than any of you have been alive. That statement may shock some, but the evidence is out there if you are willing to pursue it.

     I have been collecting info about what goes on in public schools for close to five decades now. What has gone on in public schools for the past 50 years is, believe it or not, not the real problem–but it is a very dramatic symptom of the real problem. The real problem goes all the way back to the early 1800s. More on that in the future as the Lord allows.

     For this article I want to deal with some of the symptoms, so you can begin to see what the real problem (anti-Christian “education”) produces, and how it works itself out through the symptoms.

     I have an article in my files from the Providence (Sunday) Journal from Providence, Rhode Island for Sunday, 3/19/72, the headline for which is: Cranston’s Controversial ‘Prostitute Case’. It was written by a M. William Salganik. I know nothing about him.

     Mr. Salganik wrote, in part, “The uproar in Cranston, (Rhode Island) over a prostitute who spoke to a high school social studies class is the latest in a series of schoolroom crises. Those who were horrified by the appearance of a prostitute in a public-school classroom say it is the latest instance of teachers overstepping the bounds of good taste or good judgment.” Some, however, defended having the prostitute there and accused those opposed to it of an “attempt to suppress creative teachers and trample on academic freedom.” How often have you all heard that line over the years? To those who spout it “academic freedom” means their unfettered ability to shove whatever propaganda they deem relevant down your kids’ throats and you will have nothing to say about it–so just shut up and sit down. After all, the job of brainwashing your kids belongs to the state doesn’t it?

     Reading Salganik’s article, you are confronted with the unpleasant truth that “change agents” were using public schools in Rhode Island as a seedbed for revolution. Salganik noted several other schools in Rhode Island that had problems of this nature–one is Scituate, Rhode Island where students were fed a “black history” course larded with four-letter words and one in Warwick, Rhode Island where students had an “art project” in which students painted “peace symbols.” Folks who don’t know better, even today, think the “peace symbol” is really all about peace. It isn’t! It has a very interesting history–and an anti-Christian one!

     There was quite a fuss over some of this in Rhode Island, particularly the prostitute in the social studies class. I recall having had social studies in school. By the time I came along social studies had replaced American history in most schools, at least in the North, and it was a poor substitute for history. But, then, if the kids aren’t taught real history they can’t speak up in its behalf or ask penetrating questions about it now, can they?

     And while I can appreciate the folks who felt teachers were stepping over the bounds of good judgment, they really didn’t understand the problem. The problem really wasn’t teachers with bad judgment–the problem was–and still is–an “education” system that seeks to indoctrinate your kids in a world view totally alien to what you want them to embrace. It has nothing whatever to do with real education or true academic freedom and everything to do with socialist indoctrination.  The object is to desensitize your kids along the lines advocated by those in the Frankfurt School have laid out for them. If, by now, you don’t know what the Frankfurt School is, look it up on the internet and do a little homework. If you are a Christian parent you won’t like what you find.

      Bear in mind that what I am noting here in Rhode Island took place a short two years before the Textbook Protest in Kanawha County, West Virginia, so there was a big push for this stuff in public schools in this country in the 1970s. In West Virginia the parents revolted over this kind of trash passing for education. In Rhode Island they just complained and didn’t revolt. Mores the pity!

     Even with my brief comments you should be able to see how bad some of this stuff was. You also should be able to see that, with all that has gone on for so long, chatter about “reforming” the public schools is just that–idle chatter! Real reformation for public schools will never happen and you need to realize that somber fact. The public schools are doing what they were really intended to do–indoctrinate your kids with an anti-Christian worldview. When you begin to realize that, you will begin to see that it is a waste of time and effort trying to reform them. What you really need to do is to separate from them and find Christian alternatives. There are some out there, Exodus Mandate being one of the most notable.