Socialist Public Schools In America

Many parents might think it a bit farfetched to compare our public schools to schools in socialist or communist countries. However, if we look closer, we will see striking similarities between the two systems.

In the former socialist-communist Soviet Union, for example, the government owned all property and all the schools. In America, public schools are also government property, controlled by local government officials. In Soviet Russia, the government forced all parents to send their children to government-controlled schools. In America, compulsory-attendance laws in all fifty states force parents to send their children to public schools.

The Soviet rulers taxed all their subjects to pay for their schools. Here, all taxpayers pay compulsory school taxes to support public schools, whether or not the homeowner has children or thinks the schools are incompetent. In the Soviet Union, all teachers were government employees, and these officials controlled and managed the schools. In America, teachers, principals, administrators, and school janitors are also government employees, paid, trained, and pensioned through government taxes.

In the Soviet Union, most government employees could not be fired they had a "right" to their jobs. Public-school employees in America also believe they have an alleged right to their jobs, enforced through tenure laws. As we will see later, in America, it's almost impossible to fire tenured teachers. In communist Russia, competence and working hard didn't matter very much - the government paid most workers regardless of their performance on the job.

In America, public-school teachers' salaries depend on length of service competence is irrelevant. In communist Russia, the elite ruling class had estates in the countryside while peasants starved. Here, public-school authorities get fat salaries, pensions, and benefits while our children starve for a real education.

In communist Russia, government control of food supplies created eighty years of chronic famine. In America, one hundred and fifty years of public schools has created an educational famine. Millions of public-school children can barely read while the system wastes twelve years of our children's lives.

Still think the comparison to communist schools is too farfetched? Albert Shanker, former President of the American Federation of Teachers, the second largest teacher's union, once said: "It's time to admit that public education operates like a planned economy, a bureaucratic system in which everyone's role is spelled out in advance and there are few incentives for innovation and productivity. It's no surprise that our school system doesn't improve. It more resembles the communist economy than our own market economy."

Finally, schools in some communist countries like China seem to give a better, more disciplined education in the basics of reading, writing, and math than our public schools. International math and reading test-score comparisons often find American kids lagging far behind children from China.

But what values do Chinese communist schools teach their children? Here is another apt comparison between communist schools and our public schools. In both cases, either a central or local government controls the curriculum and the values it chooses to teach its students. The Chinese government can and does indoctrinate all school children with its communist ideology and loyalty to the communist leaders.

Similarly, in our public schools, left-leaning school authorities control the curriculum and the values they teach our children. In many public schools, values-clarification programs and distorted American history courses in many public schools now indoctrinate our children with anti-parent, anti-religion, and anti-American values. In both communist schools and our government-controlled public schools, parents cannot (with a few exceptions) stop school authorities from teaching harmful or immoral values to their children.

Question --- Do socialist, compulsory, government-controlled public schools belong in America, the land of the free?

Joel Turtel is the author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children."

Website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: lbooksusa@aol.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.

Article Copyrighted © 2005 by Joel Turtel.
NOTE: You may post this Article on another website only if you set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtel's email address and website URL, http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com

---

NASA Budget Space Shuttle Thoughts

Regarding the issues with the Space Shuttle and the in... Read More

Should the FTC be Allowed to Regulate Franchising?

Recently the FTC, Federal Trade Commission put forth a report... Read More

The Options For Regime Change In Iran

If recent speeches by US officials on Iran's plans to... Read More

Environmentalism and Roads in Our Forests

Many environmentalists are against roads through the forest because it... Read More

Osama bin Laden Needs a Pay Raise

Osama bin Laden probably needs to get a pay raise,... Read More

Asking For Proof in the Economic Pudding

There are no stupid questions, only stupid people. Ask an... Read More

Watergate Scandal

On June 16, 1972, a security guard at the Watergate... Read More

Without Trucks America Stops

Do you ever wonder how everything gets to the super... Read More

True Democracy and a Way Forward

The process of researching this topic has been an interesting... Read More

Bringing Back Mining Jobs to the United States

With new environmental technologies and modern efficiency methods in mining... Read More

Should Judgeships Be a Political Event?

Thought of the day; Questions about the judicial system. If... Read More

Regional Grid Power Backup; Energy Ideas

Our Hydro-electricity accounts for some 20% of our current needs.... Read More

Philosophical Thoughts from a Road Warrior; Part II

Continued thoughts while driving down the road in a huge... Read More

Spies in Seminaries - Stalin the CEO

The use of religion is well-documented as a social engineering... Read More

Military Intelligence, FBI, CIA Intelligence Problems

Well many have complained that the FBI and CIA dropped... Read More

The Black Flag Of Anarchy

Rational, sober, logical citizens wonder what exactly the terrorists want.... Read More

I am Not an African American

I am not an African-American. Don't call me an African... Read More

The Halakah and Neo Cons

These leaders like the Rothschilds who backed Crowley's Hermetic Order... Read More

Hawala, or The Bank That Never Was

I. OVERVIEWIn the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks... Read More

Eminent Domain Suggested as Cost Saving Measure in DC

Washington DC council member David Catania actually suggested that the... Read More

Federal Trade Commission and Dismal Performance on Mergers

Most citizens agree that we need the Federal Trade Commission... Read More

Political Lobbying & Biblical Aspects of the Mid-East Crisis

1) IS HAVING A DEMOCRACY MORE EFFECTIVE IN ADDRESSING POLITICAL... Read More

Government Franchise Model; taking it virtual

Our government is set up like a modern day franchise.... Read More

Homeless, Trash, Drugs and Transient Issues

In Police Magazine I read a great article about transient... Read More

Wartime Britain & Things Look Bleak

This is the second of a series of four articles... Read More

Retirement Age Will Have To Be Raised Since People Are Living Longer

With people living longer we have some problems as those... Read More

A Component of Liberty is a Strong Social Contract with Governing Body

Recently I got to talking with a gentleman at a... Read More

Illegal Immigration - No Sign of Slowing Down

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimated that there were... Read More

Predator or Prey; Hunter or the Hunted; Teacher or the Pupil; Winning or Losing?

This is a thought on the study of Home and... Read More

FTC Fixing SPAM?

Is the Federal Trade Commission really stopping SPAM? Is the... Read More

How Does the US Congress Really Work?

Many people do not understand politics very well. They often... Read More

RSS Meet Targets Advani

The RSS is getting feedback from its 140 pracharaks or... Read More

Suicide Prevention in Prisons

Prison guards and corrections professionals are hard at work insuring... Read More