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October 27, 2009 in Opinion
Cal Thomas: Reclaim education first
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone” – Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi”
Some conservatives are prematurely salivating over President Obama’s declining poll numbers. According to a recent Gallup daily tracking poll, “the nine-point drop in the most recent quarter is the largest Gallup has ever measured for an elected president between the second and third quarters of his term, dating back to 1953.” That may comfort some Obama opponents, but three years is a long time until the next presidential election, so conservatives and Republicans (not always the same) had better think of a long-range strategy if they want to save the country from the long-term consequences of what many call “socialism.”
Matthew Spalding, of the Heritage Foundation, offers one component of that strategy in his new book, “We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future.” Spalding believes, “America is unique in that universal principles of liberty are the foundation of its particular system of government and its political culture.” He lists them and explains their history: liberty, private property, consent of the governed, equality, natural rights, religious freedom, rule of law, constitutionalism.
Middle-age and older Americans recall that these subjects were part of their high school and college curricula. Younger Americans may be less familiar with them, as the public schools no longer seem to emphasize what once held us together, preferring to teach “diversity” instead.
Six years ago, Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, introduced a bill to require a greater emphasis on American history and civics in public school classrooms. Alexander quoted federal Judge Aleta Trauger, who spoke at a swearing-in ceremony for 77 new citizens in Nashville: “We are Americans because we also share certain fundamental beliefs. We are bound together by the unique set of principles set forth in documents that created and continue to define this nation. We find our heritage and inspiration in the profound words of the Declaration of Independence: ‘All people are created equal and endowed with unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ We pledge allegiance to the Republic as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. But the greatest expression of our national identity is the Constitution of the United States, which established the responsibilities and rights that go with citizenship.”
All true in the past, but what if today’s schools no longer teach those principles and the Constitution is not supreme? What then?
Last week in New York City, the Children’s Scholarship Fund held a dinner in honor of Eva Moskowitz, who runs the Success Charter Network, which operates four charter schools serving about 1,500 students in Harlem. One of the speakers was Jaime Martinez, an eighth-grader who was rescued, along with his sister, Ashley, from a failing public school where he says he experienced bullying and fighting. Jaime’s grades are up at his Catholic private school; he sings in a choir and takes ballroom dancing lessons. (See his remarks at www.scholarshipfund.org.)
Children’s Scholarship Fund President Darla Romfo wants the education conversation to go “beyond arguments about vouchers, charter schools, and test scores into the newer territory of empowering parents and children with real information about how to choose schools and demand excellence, with the ultimate aim of expanding good options for every child.”
It is this objective that should be embraced by those wishing to “reclaim America,” not only for ourselves, but also for future generations.
If conservatives and Republicans support an exodus from public schools as a strategic goal, they will strike at the heart of liberalism, while simultaneously liberating minorities trapped in failed government schools. To free them and teach them about America and its promise of hope will produce everything they are looking for but can’t find in politics. It will also pay political dividends as children and their parents see which party and persuasion cares about them enough to bring real change to their lives.
It’s either this approach, with results, or continuing to put faith in politicians, who have proved themselves unworthy of such faith. If parents fail to act, they won’t know what they had till it’s gone.
Cal Thomas is a columnist for Tribune Media Services.
Don’t fudge fish standard 
Ninch on October 27 at 8:27 a.m.
I do not usually agree with the exodus to private schools, but if Obama’s boyfriend Arne Duncan gets his way with public schools then that may be the solution. Arne is U.S. Secretary of Education and is using $5 billion dollars in discretionary funds (thousand times more than any other Education Secretary ever) to entice states to change their education laws and experiment with our kids “Arne-style.” Arne shares the vision of the Chicago crowd, and has NO research to back up his hair-brain schemes. His mode of action is to always try out new ideas, even discarding ones that appear to work because a newer idea replaces it. Notably, Arne has NO experience in teaching and learning. Somehow he got into the Chicago Public School administration (now controlled directly by Mayor Daley) and somehow Obama figured that qualified Arne to be Education Secretary and to be given extraordinary power to utilize large sums of money for the sole purpose of “nationalizing” our public schools… formerly local and state rights and responsibilities.
Yes, we need to empower parents and local communities because “one size does not fit all” and taxpayer money in Arne’s hands will be wasted on the latest educational fads of the day.
Ninch on October 27 at 8:33 a.m.
Proof of Arne’s experimental nature: Arne recommended/pushed for “Chicago Public Schools’ first high school designed for gay, lesbian and transgender teens.”
eagleproducer on October 27 at 9:59 a.m.
Let’s leave education to partisan hacks. That methodology works SOOOOOOOOOOOO well for everything else.
speakuplouder on October 27 at 11:53 a.m.
Yep, there’s nothing like good grades in choir and ballroom dancing to get you into Notre Dame. Extending the school day with catechism is a dubious strategy to teaching critical thinking skills. And I’m not sure I’d like to rely on a Catholic private/charter school to teach future citizens on constitutional liberties, especially that bit about separation of church and state. Giving up on public schools is not the answer.