The End of Government Education

On December 16 President Elect Obama nominated Arne Duncan as education secretary. Mr. Obama said that failing to improve classroom instruction is "morally unacceptable for our children."

Mr. President Elect, you and your wife have two children. The rest of the parents in America may not mind you claiming their children are your children, but I mind.

The pronoun "our" that you use so socialisticly is trying to give the State the right to claim my children. Please keep your governmental controlling hands off "our" children. "Our" in my use means only parents can call their children "our" children.

You mentioned the failure of education in the government schools. Many people agree with you that government schools fail. Why don't you privatize the education system? Why don't you eliminate the Department of Education?

If all education was private and had failed as much as you say the government education failed you would be saying the free enterprise system in education failed and should be taken over by the government. But when the government system fails you refuse to say it should be privatized. Instead you want more control over not only children's lives but by your words you are going to hold parents more accountable. What does that mean? Are you going to use government force on parents and make them better parents? I'm sure you can find many who will agree with you it is acceptable for the government to use force and aggression on parents in the name of the "greater good". No matter who uses force and aggression on another, it is evil.

As the economy weakens many parents who send their children to private schools will stop and place their children in government schools which the parents are already paying for in taxes.

The cost of government schools over private schools is enormous. If we eliminated all taxes for the government schools parents could afford private schools. There would be millions of volunteer pedagogues willing to teach poor children.

( "New Jersey spends more than $18,500 a year on every student when you count all local school taxes and expenses like pension and health benefits. That figure doesn't even include huge sums spent on construction. A 1 percent drop in private school enrollment will put New Jersey governments on the hook for about $55 million a year; a 10 percent swing will require $550 million more in school spending. In contrast, the national median private school tuition is just over $4,000 and a little more than $5,000 when it's adjusted for New Jersey's higher income levels.")

Mr. Obama plans to spend billions on younger children, even toddlers. (Mr. Obama’s platform, which Mr. Duncan helped write, emphasizes extending care to infants and toddlers as well, and it makes helping poor children a priority. It would also provide new federal financing for states rolling out programs to serve young children of all incomes.) The government is trying to build Plato's Republic, where the government owns all children. Many parents will happily relinquish their responsibilities as parents in pursuit of vices.

There is no reason to spend thousands of dollars for an expensive government college education. All one needs to become educated today is basic reading skills and an Internet connection. The government monopoly on education is near an end.

The Pedagogue

Update; Feb 10, 2009 Jim Cramer interviewed the CEO, Wallace E. Boston Jr., of American Public Education, http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232/?video=1027946488&play=1

Wallace Boston had much to say about the new way, online, to get a college degree.