How well are schools serving the next generation of leaders?

How well are schools serving the next generation of leaders?

School days, school days, good old golden rule days. Ahhh, such memories. Good memories. Unfortunately, those days are long gone, not to be experienced by our younger generations.

Parents enter the new school year with their eyes wide open. Those who can afford it have pulled their children from government schools in search of quality education in a wholesome environment. Alternative schools include home school, private school, and on-line school. Much to their chagrin parents still pay taxes to fund public schools. A few government schools may still offer opportunity. Nevertheless, as they are tied to federal dollars, so must schools abide by federal policy. So much for local control of schools.

Those who challenge parents’ reasoning behind their choice of schools would do well to view The Daily Signal (https://www.dailysignal.com) produced by The Heritage Foundation. This on-line newsletter with commentary covers a multitude of current events, education being one. From July through the middle of August, thirty-three articles alone dealt with education and the classroom. Here are a few samples.

“Critical Race Theory Organizers Plot Their Return to the Classroom” (08/10/2024). Mike Gonzalez, Senior Fellow in the Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, shares his observations. “The top practitioners of critical race theory just held a weeklong “summer school” in Nashville, Tennessee, to strategize, assess the movement, and debate how best to proselytize the next generation. It was an instructive six days of revolutionary agitprop… Architects of CRT know they must focus intently on those who participate in the teaching profession. If CRT is a tool to be used for “revolutionizing a culture,” as its intellectual godfather, Derrick Bell, once put it, it must be implemented by teachers starting in K-12 and through graduate school.”

“How the Left Took Over America’s Classrooms” (07/30/2024). In his article, Hudson Crozier, citing education specialist David Goodwin, maintains that “…conservatives have a long way to go in taking classrooms back from the pernicious ideological influence of the Left. ‘Progressives started investing in education 80 years before they turned it into a tool of Marxism,’ said Goodwin. ‘We’ve seen that … very prominently in the public schools today, but it took them a long time to get there… I think we just have to be as serious about long-term transformation, and we need to get kids — particularly kids of like-minded families — out of progressive schools and into classical schools,’ he said.”

Goodwin, a founding member of the Ambrose School, a private, classical Christian institution, co-authored a book “Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation” with Fox News host Pete Hegseth.

“Student Test Scores Still Falling Despite Hundreds of Billions in Federal Pandemic Aid for Schools” by Owen Klinsky (07/24/2024) The Daily Caller News Foundation reported, “Student test scores are continuing to fall four years after schools moved on-line due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study released Tuesday by testing company Northwest Evaluation Association. The study found that gaps in academic performance between today’s students and their pre-pandemic counterparts are widening, despite the record $190 billion in federal aid distributed to schools since the pandemic began.”

Of interest are other articles the titles of which appear below. Limited space does not allow a recap. However, the range of education topics is worth noting. Check out The Daily Signal and its variety of authorities and subjects.

“The Truth About Slavery in America: Neither First, Nor Worst” by John Stossel (08/07/2024)
“Defense Department Schools’ DEI Agenda Underscores Need for Education Freedom for Military Families” by Jaden Stewart (07/26/2024)
“Organization Fighting Radical Gender Ideology in California Sues School District for Withholding Public Records” by Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (07/31/2024)

The intellectual climate in America today may be measured by academia’s focus on sexuality and sexual fads — gay marriage, gender studies, and transgender activism. Add to this the inculcation of Marxist thinking occurring in teachers’ colleges where unsuspecting and well-intentioned would-be teachers go to get credentialed. Little wonder credentialed activists populate public schools. In response, little wonder families increasingly seek alternatives to government schools.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at bnt0019@gmail.com.