Time to Separate School and State by Michael Prowse December 1, 1999 A few centuries ago courageous thinkers urged the separation of church and state. Religion, they argued, is a personal matter. It should not be regulated or funded by government. The principle was duly enshrined in the first amendment to the US Constitution. The country thereby avoided much civil strife and ...
The GOP and Education by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1999 The Republicans, as the old saying goes, never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, demonstrated that truism when he announced his big education initiative last week. The touted forward-looking GOP leader might have struck a real ...
Educational Coercion and Aberrant Behavior by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 1999 Central to all the solutions to aberrant behavior in America's public schools is that public schooling is the unquestionable "given." That is, the continued existence of public schooling itself is accepted without question and is viewed as a central element around which the solutions must revolve. But what if public ...
Seeking Explanations, Not Causes by Sheldon Richman August 1, 1999 So much has been written about the shootings of students by students at schools that you'd think there would be nothing left to say. But there has been surprisingly little comment about the location of the shootings: government schools. Maybe this shouldn't be surprising. Government schools are nearly sacred to most people. They couldn't possibly be a — or ...
More Power for Washington by Sheldon Richman May 1, 1999 Federalism, the protection of liberty through the dispersion of power among different levels of government, has been close to dead for decades in the United States. But now it's a little closer, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a five-to-four decision, the Court ruled that since schools accept money under a ...
The Conservative Commitment to Educational Socialism by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 1998 It would be difficult to find a better model of socialistic central planning than public (government) schooling. Public schooling entails a central board of elected or appointed government planners, either at a national, state, or local level. Attendance is mandated by compulsory-attendance laws. Government-approved schoolteachers, using government-approved textbooks, ...
Throw D.C.’s Government Out of School by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1998 Everyone is breathing a sigh of relief that D.C. public schools have opened on time this year. Perhaps we shouldn't be so hasty. Are the children of the district really better off being herded back into the public school system? Despite decades of mandatory-attendance laws and the expenditure of tens of millions ...
Educational Gimmickry by Sheldon Richman June 1, 1998 The coming controversy in the debate in education policy --actually, it's here already-will be over the matter of equal funding. In several states, the courts or legislatures have decided that it is unfair for communities with high-priced real estate to have better schools than communities with lower-priced real estate. ...
Save the Children–from Government by Sheldon Richman May 1, 1998 The cynical political exploitation of children continues apace in Washington. The calculated abuse of children in order to accumulate power knows no limits. But since it is the government itself that is guilty of this child abuse, there is no one to stop it. President Clinton reminded us ...
Mandatory Volunteerism: Were Orwell Alive, He’d Die of Laughter by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1997 President Clinton has hitched his wagon to one of the most abominable ideas to come down the pike in some time: community service as part of the school curriculum. Is there a single proposal packed with more fallacies? I doubt it. Where to begin? In getting ready for ...
Back to the Government’s Clutches by Sheldon Richman August 1, 1997 Summer's over and throughout the nation, parents are once again surrendering custody of their children to the government. In what nation is that happening? The United States of America. Why are they surrendering custody of their children to the government? Because the government runs most of the schools. Most people ...
Throw the State Out of School by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 1997 In the latest attempt to reform the public schools, President Clinton is calling for national educational standards and national testing of public school students. But Joseph A. Califano, president National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, said that national standars won't do any good because of all the drugs in public schools. A survey recently conducted ...