Quote of the Day: Waging War on our Schools

 

“If the state-operated schools are now waging war on the nation’s moral, historical, philosophical, and religious foundations, then they would seem to have forfeited their legitimacy as the proper vehicle to carry out the mission with which the American People have charged them.”  — Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr

At first glance, we might not be willing to blame the state school administrators and unions for hijacking our schools so drastically and at so many levels. But, in fact, they have armed themselves with Leftist rhetoric, distortions of history, substituted an American philosophy with a racist ideology and regularly denigrated and undermined religion in multiple ways.

We tend to focus on the latest hot topic of school abuse: at the moment, Critical Race Theory is at the forefront. For many years this topic was taught without the parents or general public even knowing what children were being taught. Then some parents learned what was happening, most recently in Loudoun County in Virginia, and began protesting the brainwashing of their children with this propaganda. At first, the Left tried to explain what they were “actually” teaching; their explanations only inflamed parents. Then they denied they were teaching what parents insisted they were teaching. Now, they are trying to make believe that there’s nothing untoward going on; they are silent as protests continue. But their silence only validates their anti-American intentions.

Meanwhile, attacks abound on the other fronts mentioned: traditional morality is openly ridiculed in the face of moral relativism; the 1619 project continues to be part of the curriculum indoctrination, even though respected historians have pointed out its many omissions and errors; philosophy is buried in the doctrine of the Leftist ideology of equity, inclusion, and diversity; and religion is discredited as primitive myth. Essentially, school children are being flooded at every level of their education, which not only undermines the education process but creates tensions between the students and their parents, as both groups try to make sense of what is going on.

One thing is certain: public schools’ powers need to be denied or circumvented if we are to survive this assault on our beliefs and practices. It will be difficult, but we have no choice. We can no longer sit back and hope for the best. To the most ardent Leftist, this is the best way to transform America

By controlling our children.

Published in Education
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 76 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    WI Con (View Comment):

    Lilly B (View Comment):

    I agree with your post overall, but I do wish that we could point to specifics more often in trying to pin down what’s actually happening. My sense is that the biggest problems are in “blue” states or cities, where the parents may support this kind of teaching. I’m watching out for it in our children’s new public schools, but it really doesn’t seem to be happening in Texas where we are. Of course, I think the activists have their sights on expanding as far into Ted states as they can.

    You seem fortunate but I’d encourage you to really check your kid’s assignments and text books regardless. The rot is deep and nationwide. It is pernicious. It may surprise you the degree which your values are undermined.

    Our public school district here in Wisconsin has been rated in the top 5 for 20+ years – it’s one of the only reasons we’ve stayed here in this town as long as we have. I’ve honestly been pleasantly surprised by many of the subjects and authors my kids have been exposed to but also shocked at the nonsense they’ve also been exposed to.

    I’m really at the point where I don’t want the schools teaching anything other than math, science, grammar and leave the rest to the parents.

    After the lesson on 51 genders, or however many it was, I’m pretty sure I won’t be shocked by the nonsense. And our church was promoting retreats for kids to examine their white privilege. We were fortunate in being able to move. 

    • #61
  2. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Lilly B (View Comment):
    And our church was promoting retreats for kids to examine their white privilege. We were fortunate in being able to move. 

    Yeah, that would do it.

    • #62
  3. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Illiniguy (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    It’s a start. However, they can post whatever they want, but teach something else entirely different . . .

    Not if your resident Illinois legislator does a tight enough job of drafting his bill.

    And even so, it’s a tool that people can use to get things rectified. I doubt that even @Illiniguy can craft a law that would work automatically, with no operator in attendance.  

    • #63
  4. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    Great post @susanquinn!

    • #64
  5. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    This is another brilliant post Susan.  Good work.

    • #65
  6. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Gossamer Cat (View Comment):

    I agree 100%. Our last stand in the culture wars is K-12 schools. Our backs are against the wall. But they are coming for our children, so I have faith that we will fight with intensity and purpose. But we must not get caught up in the language wars when they try to split hairs over the meaning of CRT. I want to hear more people saying: I don’t care what you call it. It is anti-American, illiberal Marxist garbage. And it does not belong in our schools.

     

    We will fight a bit then surrender just like the conservatives do with everything else.

    • #66
  7. I Walton Member
    I Walton
    @IWalton

    Why can’t we simply eliminate union control, state control and government control of schools.  I always point out New Zealand went from having the worst public schools in the Western World, to the very top overnight because NZ had to be kicked out of UK because the UK joined the EC.   A socialist government had a free market cabinet and turned all schools over to teachers and parents and each independent school had to compete with every other school in the country..  They fired lousy teachers as they cost them students which cost them funds.  Pretty simple.  it’s called a market.  We act as if we can’t do anything about these lousy teachers associated with lousy unions teaching lousy history and in most minority schools lousy everything else.  

    • #67
  8. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    The right needs to learn how to write file and carry out civil rights complaints.

    Trump was starting to get it at the end there, when the Labor Department sent Wells Fargo a nastygram about their employment practives.

    The NEA is a hate group and is likely barred from receiving government contracts as a matter of law already.

    ADF needs to start running EO seminars at local churches, synagogues, etc.

    • #68
  9. WillowSpring Member
    WillowSpring
    @WillowSpring

    Randy Webster (View Comment):
    I suppose we’re entitled to go and sit in the classrooms.  I can’t see any other way to tell if CRT is being taught.

    It seems like the year+ of “school from home” using Zoom meetings or similar have given us the technical solution. 

    The teachers should be uniformly required to be on camera during the lesson so any parents can log in and watch – the communications would be one-way.

    I would think the ‘real’ teachers would welcome the opportunity to know enough about the lessons so they could participate.

    Things have come a long way since our parent’s education.  My father-in-law lived on the prairie and went to a one room schoolhouse.  The parents would take turns providing room and board for the teacher.  I doubt that there was much mystery about what was being taught.

    • #69
  10. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    WillowSpring (View Comment):
    My father-in-law lived on the prairie and went to a one room schoolhouse.

    Almanzo!?

    • #70
  11. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Gossamer Cat (View Comment):

    I agree 100%. Our last stand in the culture wars is K-12 schools. Our backs are against the wall. But they are coming for our children, so I have faith that we will fight with intensity and purpose. But we must not get caught up in the language wars when they try to split hairs over the meaning of CRT. I want to hear more people saying: I don’t care what you call it. It is anti-American, illiberal Marxist garbage. And it does not belong in our schools.

     

    We will fight a bit then surrender just like the conservatives do with everything else.

    Normally I would agree.  But when they go after kids, parents fight hard.  The only thing that would stop us is them lying to us and us putting down our arms.  And I have already experienced that they will do that. So eternal vigilance is required.   

    • #71
  12. Illiniguy Member
    Illiniguy
    @Illiniguy

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Illiniguy (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    It’s a start. However, they can post whatever they want, but teach something else entirely different . . .

    Not if your resident Illinois legislator does a tight enough job of drafting his bill.

    And even so, it’s a tool that people can use to get things rectified. I doubt that even @ Illiniguy can craft a law that would work automatically, with no operator in attendance.

    You’re right, @thereticulator. I wouldn’t want to draft a law that works automatically, because without attention being paid by and the participation of those who are most affected by them, the only laws that work automatically are the ones that tighten the grip of government upon our liberty.

    • #72
  13. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    Regarding the role of parents, there are certainly rays of hope.

    • #73
  14. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    Regarding the role of parents, there are certainly rays of hope.

    Indeed there are. And she serves as a role model for all those who are concerned but are afraid to act alone. Such courage!

    • #74
  15. WillowSpring Member
    WillowSpring
    @WillowSpring

    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf (View Comment):

    WillowSpring (View Comment):
    My father-in-law lived on the prairie and went to a one room schoolhouse.

    Almanzo!?

    He lived in Plain View,  South Dakota and it must have lived up to its name.  He, my wife and brother in law all took a trip to find the ‘old homestead’.  As part of the preparation, we got a USGS quadrangle map to attempt to pin down the location.  That led to the following conversation:

    “O.K., picture yourself looking out the front door.  What do you see?”

    “Nothing”

    “O.K., what about out the back door?”

    “Nothing”

    “Out the sides?”

    “Nothing”

    In spite of this level of detail, they did think they got close.

    • #75
  16. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    WillowSpring (View Comment):

    The teachers should be uniformly required to be on camera during the lesson so any parents can log in and watch – the communications would be one-way.

    I would think the ‘real’ teachers would welcome the opportunity to know enough about the lessons so they could participate.

     

    It really seems to bother some teachers not to know who is watching them at any given moment. My father was hired by a university in the late 1960s to set up a distance learning system. The technology of the time limited video to one way (professor to remote students). There was audio feedback from the remote students to the professor. The project never got off the ground because too many professors objected to the possibility that the dean or the department chair could slip into a room with the remote students and watch the professor teach without the professor knowing it. 

    On the other hand, our children had several elementary school teachers who had many parent volunteers in the classroom much of the time, and if the school principal got anywhere close to the classroom, the teacher would not only invite the principal in, but put the principal to work helping students in the room. 

    • #76
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.