EDUCATION
Do you agree with me that properly educating our children, our future, should be one of our highest priorities?
Current Government Policy of Troubling Concern: Education is not a neutral activity. Everything taught or promoted is based on the teacher's or curriculum's worldview and affects the moral, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of a child. It is impossible to teach "just the facts" isolated from context and purpose. As much as we don't want to believe this, today's schools have become centers of indoctrination in cultural Marxism. The most famous examples are Comprehensive Sex Education (which destroys the foundation of self-control and family) and Critical Race Theory (which pits various groups of people against one another, based on the color of their skin and a false narrative). These concepts are destructive and are, indeed, being taught in our local schools.
A Restorative Policy of Positive Change understands the true purpose of education. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (in Article 3) puts it very simply: "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."
That was written over 200 years ago, when our nation was much more homogeneous, sharing the principles of freedom and justice from a primarily Judeo-Christian worldview. (Prayer and Bible-reading occurred regularly in the public schools until 1962. The Ten Commandments could be displayed on the walls of the public schools until the US Supreme Court banned them in 1980.) Today, we have a wide diversity of thought about "religion, morality, and knowledge." Given such diversity, can the one public school be expected to fulfill the same goals that our founding fathers envisioned were necessary? I don't think so.
The only just solution to the need for schools that provide an education "necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind" are schools that parents can choose for their children.
Why parents—and not the state?
In 1857, the people of Oregon approved our constitution, which includes the article that the government would provide funds for every child to have a basic education. Furthermore, in 1925 (Pierce vs. Society of Sisters) the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the natural, preeminent rights of parents and legal guardians to direct the lives of their children, including their education. Therefore, parents, not the state or teachers' unions, have the right to determine the best kind of education for their children. To enable parents to provide that best education for their children, our tax dollars should fund the children and not the systems.
School choice today—for every family, not just the wealthy—is "necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind." Schooling options must safeguard the physical, moral, spiritual, and emotional dimensions of each child. Excellent schools will do that while providing the opportunity within a healthy context to learn academic content and skills necessary for each child to prosper in his or her own life and community.
What can YOU do to support parents in their right to determine the kind of education that best fits their children's needs?
Read about and sign (before June 15) the two constitutional amendment petitions for Open Enrollment for Public and Charter School Students and real School Choice for Private and Homeschool Students — and share them in your circles. See https://educationfreedomfororegon.com/sign-petition.
What do YOU think? Please fill out the Voter Feedback Survey.
Top