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September 6, '01 Vol. 1, No. 30
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T H E S C H O O L L I B E R A T O R
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* Spotlight on Homeschooling * One Stop Shopping at Your Local School * K-16? * Dress Code Hypocrisy * Spotlight on the Alliance *
--> When one goes on vacation, one comes back to a scary inbox. Mine is overflowing with articles about
American schools and education--not synonymous. It's [not] back-to-school time, after all.
--> Is it my imagination or is homeschooling getting more play in the media? I don't pretend to speak for
all homeschoolers--for any other than myself in fact-- but I find the recent analyses lacking.
--> From Time Magazines' puerile attempt to denigrate homeschool parents as poor citizens--whatever that means--
to friend-of-homeschooling Karen de Coster lauding us as paragons, to Wendy McElroy finally noticing that homeschool
mothers are women and calling on "feminism" to--*gasp*-- embrace us, maybe all this attention isn't positive.
The World's Most Unselfish Act
http://www.lewrockwell.com/decoster/
decoster43.html
Homeschooling, A Feminist Challenge
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933
,33552,00.html
--> I don't know people, thank heaven, who lie awake at night worrying about being good citizens, or worrying
about whether their neighbors, family and friends are good citizens, for that matter. I know no homeschool
parents who consciously strive to be unselfish in their child rearing, and I shudder to even briefly consider
the abject disaster awaiting homeschool mothers should the NOW Crowd turn their benevolent gaze toward us.
--> Here's my dirty little secret. I'm an individual who is very happy being at home with my children. I am not Joan
of Arc, nor am I Jack the Ripper and I don't want Gloria Steinem on my "team." I don't have a team. I'm just mom,
and I like it that way.
--> The Seattle Times article reported about the ever expanding role of schools in family life. Kids.Health.2001--
a quasi-government agency that according to the Times gets its money from seven Seattle hospitals, the Seattle-King
County Department of Public Health, Washington Dental Service, Seattle Public Schools, the city of Seattle and
privates [sic] donations including grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Paul G. Allen Foundation"--is
providing health insurance to low income families in the Seattle area, with the school super and the mayor soliciting
for the program. From "Free health care for kids' drive kicks off":
"Parents, add another task to your list of back-to-school chores: Sign up for free health insurance for your kids.…
"'Clearly, health insurance makes a difference in kids' ability to do well in school,' [says Randy Revelle, campaign
director at Kids.Health.2001.] 'If you get a kid that's sick or injured, and it goes untreated for too long, it's a lot
harder to learn than for a child in good health.'"
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html
/localnews/134333986_kidshealth27
m.html
(Copy and paste long urls into your browser.)
--> Who is this Randy Revelle and how does he know? There have been quite a few scientific geniuses who were sickly as children
and doubtless had no health insurance--Pascal, Priestly, Joule, Watt, Haller and Spencer to name a few. Somehow, Edison did just
fine without an insurance paid for hearing aide. Let me know of successful people in other fields who "missed out" on school
due to illness or poverty or wealth or any other good reason.
I'll start keeping a list. mailto:ccuthbert@fix.net
--> Dress Code Hypocrisy. "Trustees for Madera Unified School District are asking whether teachers should be held to the
same strict standards outlined in the student dress code.
"Trustee Susan Geringer says about 10 parents have contacted her claiming that some teachers do not abide by dress and
appearance restrictions placed on students.
"'The letters I've received deal with piercings, tattoos and what parents considered to be inappropriate dress,'
Geringer says. "I'm not saying they have to have a dress code, but if you have expectations for kids, you should
be able to have them for teachers.'"
Dress code for teachers considered
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/
737081p-797978c.html
See below for Marshall Fritz's letter to the Fresno Bee on this article.
--> Put the next two items together. Any cause and effect?
--> "ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2001 reported higher GPAs than last year's class, continuing a trend of rising GPAs
over the past several years. This trend is not paralleled in academic achievement as reflected by ACT scores, which have
remained steady for the last five years, suggesting possible grade inflation."
ACT Average Composite Score Steady for Fifth Straight Year
http://www.act.org/news/releases/2001/
08-15-01.html
--> "Five-Year Graduation Rate Continues to Fall. Although more students are remaining where they first enroll, the percentage
earning a bachelor's degree within five years continues to slip and is now at 51.2, four-tenths of a percent below the figure
reported last year."
More First-Year College Students Return for Second Year; Fewer Students Graduate in Five Years
http://www.act.org/news/releases/200
1/04-26-01.html
--> Also note a report from Council for Aid to Education, a subsidiary of RAND, called "Assessing the Quality of
Student Learning: An Imperative for State Policy and Practice," a paper given at the National Governors'
Association Conference (2-24-'01). From the report:
"[W]e need excellence in a seamless K-16 system of education and beyond--and an assessment of quality to assure it.
This has begun at the K-12 level and we need to start now to assess undergraduate education, which is predominantly
state responsibility. And since life-long learning is increasingly the norm, the assessment lessons learned
from K-16 eventually can be extended to programs beyond formal degrees."
http://www.cae.org/ASSESSINGQUALI
TY(NGA).pdf
(You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access this report.)
--> Is it just me, or does the term K-16 and the above paragraph make anyone else squeamish?
================= ANNOUNCEMENTS =================
--> 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.
======== SPECIAL OFFER =========
"Educational Freedom Might Be Closer than We Think." Marshall Fritz explained to a mostly libertarian
audience how educational freedom could be victorious
in as little as two years, coming as just as big a surprise as the fall of the Berlin Wall. Get this
60 minute audiotape as a School Liberator special--$1 plus $3.50 shipping--a full $7 discount.
Call Morgen at 559/292-1776 to order.
===============================
To the Editor of the Fresno Bee,
How are we readers of the Fresno Bee to understand Tom Greci, president of the teachers' union at Madera Unified
School District? (Dress Code for Teachers Considered, 8-31-01)
He opposes using the same dress code for teachers that is used for students. Does he believe in the dress code for
students, and is simply avoiding the most powerful teaching method known to humankind, example?
Or does he not believe in prohibiting students from wearing what the dress code calls "revealing clothing"? If so, a bit
more candor on his part would be appreciated regarding what he does want to teach the children.
As it stands, he seems to be saying, "Do as we say, not as we do." It is hard to imagine a more effective way of promoting
alienation, disrespect, and rebellion in students.
Lest anyone think I am taking potshots at a "public schooling" without a solution, I'd like to point out that my organization
proposes the same solution for schools as for churches: Separate them from the state, local, and federal government.
Simply stated, politics and education don't mix.
Does this movement have a chance of success?
As of today, August 31, 2001, 13,321 people have signed the Public Proclamation for the Separation of School and State.
This includes 2,778 in California and 25 in Madera. The logic behind the movement to liberate schools from government, plus
all signers of this Proclamation, can be seen at
http://www.SepSchool.org.
Marshall Fritz
President, The Alliance for the Separation of School and State
--> Have you written to your editor recently? This is the season for not-back-to-school letters. Don't forget
to forward a copy to us.
------------------------------
Alliance for the Separation of School and State By Joseph A. D'Agostino (August 27, 2001)
The conservative movement has various proposals for improving the dismal American system of education: vouchers, tax credits,
charter schools, merit pay, standardized testing, less federal involvement, more local control, single-sex schooling,
and the like. But one simple, libertarian solution is rarely discussed: Abolish the entire
government-owned-and thus socialist-school system.
"It may be a jarring statement," says the Alliance for the Separation of School and State about this proposal, "but for
more than three full lifetimes-the 220 years from the 1620s to the 1840s-most American schooling was independent of government
control, subsidy and influence. From this educational freedom
the American Republic was born. Now, after 150 years of tax-financed schooling, we see more and more children failing to
grow into responsible, caring, competent adults. A movement is growing to reclaim the American tradition of family
responsibility in education by returning to the separation of school and state."
"I see nothing else with the potential to reverse our cultural slide," said Marshall Fritz, president of the group and one
of its founders in 1994. "With the separation of school and state, parents will be able to transmit their culture to their
children. People will either choose schools that fit their worldview or home-school."
The Alliance encourages Americans to sign its proclamation, which has already attracted the signatures of 12,000 people,
including philanthropist Howard Ahmanson and minister and author Tim LaHaye. "I proclaim publicly that I favor ending
government involvement in education," says the simple pledge.
Though government-run schooling did not start to take off in this country until the 1840s, de Tocqueville noted in 1835
about America, "Every farmer can argue philosophy," said Fritz.
But, as Fritz is aware, the do-gooders fear that equality would suffer if children of the poor and immigrants were not
educated, which is what they think would surely result if the public schools cease to exist. "The first point is, these
children are not being educated today," Fritz said. "It's a
disaster. People would have more money without the government schools because private schools cost less. Socialism takes
twice the resources to do something--that is Milton Friedman's law. The 15 million poor kids, one-third of the population,
are going to need financial assistance, I don't deny that. But some private schools cost only $1,500 to $2,500 a year."
The Alliance's website features a version of R. C. Hoiles' "Twenty-one ways 'public schools' harm your children." Hoiles
was the publisher of the Santa Ana Register, now the Orange County Register. "They dare not teach the First Commandment,
'Thou shalt have no other Gods before me,' because they are bowing down and worshipping the will of the majority rather
than the eternal laws of God that no man made and no man can unmake," he wrote. "They dare not teach 'Thou shalt not covet,'
because they are violating the Coveting Commandment. They believe they do not need to teach well enough that people
will voluntarily pay their salaries. . . . They dare not teach respect for individual initiative because government schools
are based on lack of respect for other people's initiative.
They are based on the theory that 'we've got the power and the individual is helpless and we're going to make him pay for
anything our agents think is education.' "
Fritz traced the beginnings of public schooling to battles between Christians on the one side and Deists and Unitarians
on the other during the American Revolution and after. "The Deists and Unitarians from the 1770s and '80s wanted the
government to take over the schools, and there was a growing battle between them and the Christians," he said. "When the
Irish arrived, the stand-off was destabilized." Anti-Catholic
feeling led the Protestant majorities in cities such as Philadelphia to establish public schools where the curriculum
was dictated by Protestants, he said.
Fritz said that the first step is to convince parents to take their children out of public schools. "To libertarians,
I would say you are sending your child to a socialist school that teaches socialism by its very existence," he said. "To
Christians, I would say you are sending your child to a
secularist school that undermines your religion."
The spring 2001 issue of "Education Liberator," published by the Alliance, features an article by Cathy Cuthbert
arguing that the term "public schools" should be replaced by something else, such as "government schools" or "socialist
schools." "The Name Game is a neat trick when it can be pulled off. Can the advocates of separation use it?" she asks.
© Human Events, 2001
http://www.humaneventsonline.com
/articles/08-27-01/spotlight.html
==============================
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/eGroups
Discussion.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.
================================
THE SCHOOL LIBERATOR is 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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