Save the date for Unfragmented, a new book club hosted by our very own Leigh Bortins, beginning Thursday, May 4, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. EST. Just click the Unfragmented book club banner on the home page of Leighâs website to find the Zoom link and join in the discussion.
May will feature author Samuel Blumenfeldâs book, Is Public Education Necessary? No preparation is required, but it helps to have the book in hand. Enjoy the relaxed conversation!
âIn early American history, a literate and well-educated majority of Americans thrived without a national, tax-funded educational program. In fact, few of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence and drafted the U.S. Constitution had ever seen a public school, and yet they benefitted from a free system of education vastly superior to the imagined benefits of todayâs state-controlled schooling.
âWhat happened over the course of the last two and a half centuries? Why did Americans surrender the educational freedom that produced such widespread academic excellence to embrace a state of functional illiteracy under complete government control?
âIn his seminal book Is Public Education Necessary?, Samuel Blumenfeld unpacks two centuries of source material to present an accurate history of the religious and philosophical transformations that gave birth to the educational statism controlling Americaâs children today.
âFrom the New England Puritan experiments in compulsory schooling to the Unitarian crusades to perfect man with the âstrong arm of government,â Blumenfeld shows that public education in America has always been more about religion than literacy.
âA colorful history full of fascinating characters and incisive commentary, Is Public Education Necessary? challenges American parents to discard the common wisdom concerning public schoolsâto reshoulder the responsibilities that are rightfully theirs, to fight to keep the liberties they inherited, and to teach their children to do the same.â
Politicians in Raleigh want to transform our freedoms with House Bill 420, giving state bureaucrats more control over North Caroliniansâ educational options, consequently driving up prices, reducing quality and innovation, and normalizing state welfare checks for the middle class and wealthy — all in the name of âschool choice.â But the fact is, North Carolina already has robust educational choices, and families are enthusiastically enjoying those opportunities. According to a 2022 report from BESTNC.com, approximately 16 percent of North Carolina families homeschool or attend private school. Families already have school choice, and this freedom allows for extraordinary educational innovation and entrepreneurship at a net gain to taxpayers.
For the 280,000 students and their families who have opted out of public education, HB 420 will allow them to collect state welfare checks twice a year to pay for eligible expenses. Further, language in HB 420 will require schools that are currently independent to comply with accreditation agencies to receive those funds, which, in turn, requires unnecessary mandated government and woke accreditation agency oversight. The consequences are significant: increased costs to manage and maintain the schools, potentially forced woke ideological indoctrination, and reduced quality of education due to a client shift — the government, not the families. With shekels come shackles.
You may have noticed that after the federal government flooded our economy with money, the price of every good and service increased significantly. Consider specifically how rising college tuition costs have priced many families out of secondary education; interestingly, despite generous government handouts, college remains unaffordable and unattainable for many. When the government disrupts a market by throwing money into it, the natural outcome is higher prices and lower quality.
I predict this will happen with Kâ12 education in North Carolina should HB 420 pass in its current form. Private educational savings accounts (ESAs) arenât a new idea. Indiana has led the way in school choice for more than a decade. Yet, a recent study out of Indiana âdid not find statistical evidence that voucher students experience an improvement in their average achievement after baseline the longer they are enrolled in a private school. One might expect that students and their private schools would adjust to better meet the educational needs of voucher students. Collectively, this does not appear to be the case.â In other words, the lackluster results of Indianaâs voucher program, consisting of publicly funded ESAs, demonstrate no statistical improvement in educational outcomes.
Solutions abound. Immediate options for private funding are available, such as academic and athletic scholarships for underserved students attending private schools, educational scholarships from non-profits such as the Homeschool Foundation, which provides resources to those in poverty who choose to homeschool, and scholarships contributed through the community by way of churches and civic groups. North Carolina families are innovative and benevolent; therefore, our families do not require government handouts, nor do they require heavy-handed regulation.
North Carolina is considered one of the best states in the country for educational freedom, and our citizens are freely exercising their inalienable rights. As a Christian and a conservative, I know that HB 420 is wrong for North Carolina because it will drive up prices, reduce quality and innovation, and normalize welfare for the middle class and the rich. Too much money is being spent to provide the freedom that is already ours; that money should stay with the family. Though well-intentioned and honorable, HB 420 is the height of welfare and big government, as there is no such thing as truly free money from the government. Perhaps our legislators should champion our citizens in keeping more of the money they earn instead of redistributing it.
Robert Bortins is the CEO of Classical ConversationsÂŽ. The company has grown from supporting homeschoolers in about 40 states to supporting homeschoolers in over 50 countries and has become the worldâs largest classical homeschooling organization under his guidance.
This was originally posted in American Thinker, on April 12, 2023.To read the original post, please visit:
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