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July
10, '01
Vol. 1, No. 19
==================================
T H E S C H O O L L I B E R A T
O R
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* $125 billion wasted * Diversity in Louisiana *
* Alliance response to Education Secretary Paige*
--> I missed the National Assessment of Education Progress this year.
The folks who keep the Thought You Should Know
website http://tysknews.com
have posted a LA Times story on the report.
--> The LA Times headline reads: "Poor Readers Have Gotten Worse,
U.S. Study Shows: Education Reforms since 1992 have failed to raise
scores, except among high-achieving pupils."
http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/Educ
ate/poor_readers_worse.htm
--> From the article: "'After spending $125 billion . . . over 25
years, we have virtually nothing to show for it,' said U.S. Education
Secretary Rod Paige, referring to the federal government's leading school
program for poor children known as Title I. 'Fewer than a third of
fourth-graders can read at grade level.'"
--> Despite all the evidence that federal government money does not
translate into better education, egg heads such as Harvard Professor
Catherine Snow say more research and money are need to figure out how to
teach Johnny how to read.
--> Again from the article: "'We have to figure out how to
translate research into something people can use in classrooms,' said
Catherine Snow, a Harvard professor who chaired a panel that produced a
report three years ago called 'Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young
Children.'
"'That means massive investment in professional development,' Snow
said. 'It's a serious and long-term undertaking.'"
--> I can save taxpayers billions, and I'm sure you can, too. Why don't
they ask us how to teach Johnny how to read? But, then, we know why.
--> Have you wondered why every state in the union has laws requiring
that education--including private and home education--be conducted in
English? You don't believe it is to protect the student or bolster the
economy, do you?
--> Chantal Saucier of Asteur, a Cajun culture preservation project, http://www.asteur.org
has posted an excellent article dealing with the history of public
education in Louisiana and how forced schooling effected--or should we say
nearly destroyed--Cajun culture in that state.
--> After reading Chantal's work, you may react differently to
politicians and other government functionaries who bleat about
diversity.
================ ANNOUNCEMENTS =================
--> Sepschool.org's overhaul has begun. Take a look at our new homepage
http://www.sepschool.org We are on our way but need $8,500 to
pay our new webmaster to upgrade other areas
of the website. We are hoping for a $1,000 gift, three $500 gifts, and a
whole bunch of gifts from $25 to $250. We need your commitment of support
by July 30 to be able to secure Geoff Braun's services for the rest of the
work. Email Morgen with your pledge mailto:Morgen@psnw.com or call 559/292-1776. Help us reach
more people with our fast-spreading liberation
message. As always, we thank you for your generous support.
--> SepCon2001 is set for Nov. 16-18 in Arlington VA, the weekend
before Thanksgiving, at the Hilton DoubleTree
Hotel in Arlington VA. We have a SepCon2001 page listing the speakers and
topics. Registration information, too. Go to
http://www.sepschool.org/sepcon.html
Mark your calendar now.
--> Alliance President Marshall Fritz will be on the Bob Madrid Show,
KIQ 1010am, at 4pm Mountain Daylight Time,
Tuesday, July 17. Krista Kafer of the Heritage Foundation will also be
interviewed.
================================
On June 30, 2001, U.S. Secretary of Education, Ron Paige, addressed the
NEA convention in Los Angeles. He warned public school teachers that
competition from private and homeschooling may "destroy the [public
school] system."
Below is the Alliance's press release commenting on Secretary Paige's
remarks followed by an article covering his speech.
Please help us spread the separation message by sending this press release
to your local newspaper. Copy and paste to email, or go to http://www.sepschool.org/Other/Press
ReleaseJuly9.pdf
and print the pdf version.
----------------------------------------------
Education Alliance Criticizes Attitude of U.S. Education Secretary Toward
Non-Government Schools
Fresno, Calif. - Marshall Fritz, President of the Alliance for the
Separation of School & State, criticized U.S. Education
Secretary Rod Paige for comments he made June 30, 2001, at National
Education Association (NEA) convention in Los Angeles. Fritz
characterized Paige's remarks as "partisan, biased,
and self-serving" by favoring government schools at the expense of
all others.
What disturbed Fritz and members of his Alliance was the tone of the
Secretary's speech: "He kept saying, 'we must respond' to the
challenge of private and home schools, and that his goal is to help public
schools to prevail." Fritz mused, "Clearly he does not think of
himself as the secretary of all education. Maybe he wants to be the
'Secretary of Government-Imposed Tax-Financed Education.'"
In his remarks to the NEA, the Secretary admitted that the public school
system is failing. He expressed the fear that
if reforms are not forthcoming, families will continue to leave the public
school system in droves. Fritz says, "We
should applaud those parents who leave schools that undermine their
beliefs just as we applauded people who escaped Marxism East in spite of
the Berlin Wall."
Paige's goal is to win back public confidence in public schooling before
it is too late. "I have news for Secretary Paige," said
Fritz. "It's already too late. Several national polls show 25 percent
of the population is ready to end tax
financing and compulsory attendance right now, and an additional 25
percent are ready once sure that private scholarships will allow the poor
to go to better schools than today."
The Alliance believes that reforms of the government school system are
futile because "politics and education don't mix." Over 12,000
supporters have signed a proclamation stating, "I favor ending
government involvement in education."
The Alliance was founded in 1994 by parents, grandparents, and educators
for the purpose of informing people how education can be improved by
removing politics from education, that is, ending state, local, and
federal involvement in schooling. A list of all who have signed the
proclamation can be found at
www.SepSchool.org.
-----------------------------------------------
June 30, 2001, 11:01PM
Tough competition threatens public schools, Paige warns Copyright 2001
Houston Chronicle News Services
Education Secretary Rod Paige told the nation's largest teachers' union
Saturday that public school teachers are competing for business with
private schools, charter schools, home schools and others.
"Public schools are no longer the only show in town," he said.
In remarks prepared for delivery to the National Education Association's
annual meeting in Los Angeles, Paige said unsolved problems plaguing
public schools have given rise to increasingly
tough competition. "It is tempting to pretend that public
schools are exempt from the law of supply and demand," said Paige,
former superintendent of the Houston Independent School District.
"This pretension will destroy the system."
Pointing out that $25 million and many union teaching jobs were diverted
from traditional public schools in Houston to charter schools serving
6,000 students, he warned the public-school teachers
who dominate the NEA: "Burying our heads in the sand and pretending
that private schools, charter schools, home schools and the Internet are
not significant (competitors) would just harm the public schools we
serve."
Paige said public schools can improve by looking at why students flee.
"Embracing competition means not fearing it, but finding
opportunities to use it to create the change to our system that has eluded
us for so long," he said. [snip]
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.ht
s/nation/958016
==============================
SIGN THE PROCLAMATION or get a family member to: "I proclaim publicly
that I favor ending government involvement in education."
http://www.sepschool.org/Proclamation
WANT TO SOUND OFF? Discuss education issues with fellow articulate School
Liberators. Go to
http://www.sepschool.org/Other/eGroup
sDiscussion.htm
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? Send us your message at
mailto:ccuthbert@fix.net
WORD OF MOUTH is the most efficient means of marketing the Separator
philosophy. Please forward this newsletter to your family, friends and
associates.
===============================
FINAL THOUGHT
"What is unfortunate is that many Cajuns suggest that because
government schools destroyed the culture and the language, it is up to the
government schools to bring it back and repair the damage.
"While this may sound fair in the abstract and it takes the
responsibility away from parents, in the context of "public"
schools
today, culture preservation or rejuvenation is unlikely, if not
impossible.
"If Cajuns are serious about the preservation of their culture and
language, as they say they are, we believe it is time to re-evaluate the
way we are educating our children."--Chantal Saucier, Asteur
http://www.asteur.org/issue-schools-intr
oduction.html
================================
THE SCHOOL LIBERATOR is currently a FREE service of The Alliance for the
Separation of School & State, 4578 N First #310, Fresno CA 93726 (559)
292-1776. We are a non-profit, grass roots educational organization
dedicated to informing people worldwide how education can be improved for
all-not only the poor-by liberating schools from politics. For more
information go to
http://www.sepschool.org
Publisher: Marshall Fritz
Editor: Cathy Cuthbert
Copyright 2001, The Alliance for the Separation of School & State,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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