Opposition to government involvement in education in the United States

Opposition to government involvement in education in the United States comes from a variety of sources and is based on many different rationales. The Alliance for Separation of School & State argues that government schooling "discourages individuality, innovation, curiosity, creativity and overall excellence." [ [http://www.schoolandstate.org/Case/case2.htm Why Shouldn't the Government be Involved in Education?] , Alliance for Separation of School & State.] R. Cort Kirkwood of the American Family Association argues that government schools seek to "hammer the child with values approved by the state" and that using public funds for education is inherently problematic because "everyone cannot agree on what should be taught or what "values," to use the vulgate, should be imparted." [Kirkwood, R. Cort (October 4, 2002. [http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/afa/42002rck.asp Private Money Could Build Private Schools] . American Family Association.] On March 28, 2002, Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson stated on his daily radio broadcast: "In the state of California, if I had a child there, I wouldn't put the youngster in a public school...I think it's time to get our kids out. And I'm going to get hit for [saying] that." [ [http://www.home-school.com/news/drdobson.html Dr. Dobson Tells Christians to Get Kids Out Of California Public Schools] , Homeschool World.] An article published by the International Society for Individual Liberty states, "Government schools continue to graduate functional illiterates, and US public school students' math skills are now among the worst in the industrialized world." John Taylor Gatto argues that mere reform is not possible, as "School has become too vital a jobs project, contract giver, and protector of the social order to allow itself to be reformed." [O'Brien, George L. [http://www.isil.org/resources/lit/govt-schools.html Government Schools in Crisis] . ISIL.] In "The Disestablishment of Schools", Ivan Illich writes, "The first article of a bill of rights for a modern, humanist society would correspond to the First Amendment to the US Constitution: "The State shall make no law with respect to the establishment of education." [ [http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/educn/educn013.pdf Ivan Illich and the Deschooling Movement] . Ed. David Botsford (1993). Libertarian Alliance.] In "Common Fallacies About Capitalism", Nathaniel Branden notes that although everyone is theoretically allowed to send their children to private schools, "most parents are effectively compelled to send their children to State schools, since they are taxed to support these schools and cannot afford to pay the additional fees required to send their children to private schools." [Branden, Nathaniel (June 1963). [http://www.sudburyvalley.org/archives/dsm6/0071.html Common Fallacies About Capitalism] .] The privatization movement includes such organizations as the Heartland Institute, Heritage Foundation, and Cato Institute.

Measures of the level of support for school privatization vary depending on how survey questions are asked. A Phi Delta Kappa poll found that support declined from 38 to 36 percent between 2005 and 2006. The question asked was "Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense?" The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation commissioned its own poll in August 2005, asking, "Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose any school, public or private, to attend using public funds?" The level of support was 60%. [Coulson, Andrew J. (August 29, 2006). [http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6643 What the Public Really Thinks of School Choice] .]

Arguments against government involvement in education

Jacob G. Hornberger and other libertarians oppose government schooling on the grounds that it is a welfare program. [Hornberger, Jacob G. (April 1997). [http://www.fff.org/aboutUs/press/calp.asp Fighting for Freedom] . California LP Newsletter.] Albert Shanker, once president of the American Federation of Teachers, said, "It's time to admit that the public education system operates like a planned economy, a bureaucratic system in which everybody's role is spelled out in advance and there are few incentives for innovation and productivity. It's no surprise that our school system doesn't improve. It more resembles the communist economy than our own market economy." [Stossel, John. [http://jewishworldreview.com/0806/stossel083006.php3 Schools Need Competition Now.] ]

The Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation claims, "Government schools are established by law. Elected and appointed public officials nominally have authority over them. In practice, however, actual authority is typically exercised by professional bureaucrats and the teachers' unions." However, Commonweal Institute rebuts this point by stating that school boards holding public meetings enable public participation and public accountability. [ [http://www.commonwealinstitute.org/reports/ed/section1.html Responding to the Attack on Public Education and Teacher Unions] .]

Murray Rothbard's "For a New Liberty" makes several arguments against government schools. He says that it is not unlike the situation we would have if government controlled the magazine industry. There would be endless arguments over how conservative or liberal it should be; how many pages should be devoted to bridge; etc. Allowing a plethora of non-subsidized schools to emerge allows these issues to be settled by the free market.

History

According to Eugene White, "Some say the first formal blow against public education occurred in 1983 with Secretary of Education Terrel Bell's issuance of 'A Nation at Risk.'" [White, Eugene G. (December 2006). [http://www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=7821&snItemNumber=&tnItemNumber= CSI Public Schools: Solving a Mystery] .] In 1994, the Alliance for the Separation of School and State was founded. Shortly before his 2004 death, Marlin Maddoux wrote "Public Education Against America: The Hidden Agenda", which argues that Christians should not educate their children in today's public schools. [Shortt, Bruce (May 3, 2006). [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50013 Public Education Against America: The Hidden Agenda] .] In 2004, a resolution was proposed at the Southern Baptist Convention to encourage "all officers and members of the Southern Baptist Convention and the churches associated with it to remove their children from the government schools and see to it that they receive a thoroughly Christian education, for the glory of God, the good of Christ's church, and the strength of their own commitment to Jesus". [ [http://www.thesouthernbaptistacademy.org/convention_resolution.php Homeschooling Program - Southern Baptist Convention Resolution] ] The resolution was defeated. [Strom, Ron (June 16, 2004). [http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38986 Baptists kill anti-public-school resolution] . WorldNetDaily.]

References

External links

* [http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/1025 Parental Rights and Public Education.]