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Looking at Gary Varvel's cartoon yesterday, titled "The Evolution of College Students," I was reminded of an article I saw a couple of months ago on the "dumbing down of public education," published by the Washington Examiner.
The Examiner article was titled, "Public schools are intentionally dumbing down their education."
Are they really purposefully dumbing down kids' educations?
If so, why?
Be informed, not misled.
The Washington Examiner begins, "Of all the ailments afflicting our public schools, few are worse than the dumbing down of students. This casts a pall on the country’s future, and this ominous cloud is cast by design."
That’s why you can look at pretty much any state in the country, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress results are similar — and too often dismal.
The Examiner says, "The NAEP is a national test, taken by 4th, 8th, and 11th graders in all 50 states."
For those keen to improve our public schools, the general drift is unmistakable and not a little worrisome:
About half the nation’s children are not at “grade level” in language and math.
It’s even worse in states subjugated by so-called teachers' unions. A few examples will suffice. Nothing but goose eggs in reading at 32 Illinois schools, according to a 2022 report from the Illinois State Board of Education.
The article continues:
Unions and their political allies have persistently raised per-pupil spending in Illinois by claiming to rescue low-income students. Using their “poor minorities” talking points, they’ve raised annual spending to astronomical numbers; some districts spend over $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, or even $50,000 per pupil. Yet, not a single student — zero — tested at grade level in reading in 32 schools.
Similarly, not a single student tested proficient in math in 67 Illinois schools.
While a professor at George Mason University, the late economist Walter Williams studied 39 high schools in Baltimore, whose schools ranked third in per-pupil spending nationally.
Thomas Sowell, in "Charter Schools and Their Enemies," says Williams reported that in 13 of those 39 high schools, not a single student scored proficient in math. In six other high schools, just 1% tested proficient in math. Citywide, only 15% passed the state’s English test.
Is this intentional?
"We’ve been exploited, folks — cleverly manipulated into supporting the demise of our children and country."
Now unions are openly dragging our children to leftist political rallies, during the school day, instead of teaching them civics and American history. In fact, their communist agenda has so infiltrated every aspect of our schools that we’re even dumbing down the dumbing down!
School systems revised “grade level” downward, meaning a student reading at grade level in 8th grade today isn’t reading as well as an 8th-grader at grade level 10 years ago. And this downward trend has been going on for decades. Unions have dumbed us down so thoroughly that most college-educated Americans would have a hard time passing the 1895 8th-grade exit exam.
Many colleges scrapped the ACT and SAT as requirements for admission, and scores on those tests have been falling for years. Ironically, ACT’s vast survey of results from 2010 to 2022 also found that grade inflation accelerated as aptitudes declined.
So, we have children who think they’re educated when they’re not — perfect targets for clever propagandists disguised as teachers and professors.
Thanks to legislators aided by formidable unions, the ailments afflicting schools are numerous and ominous. Most adults who attended public schools are familiar with drugs, gangs, and bullies, the ubiquitous evils that stymied many an academic pursuit for untold millions. But most don’t realize these nightmares began after unions took control of our schools, and now unions command curricula that stress anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, racism, class warfare, transgenderism, and the LGBT cult — in other words, communism.
Also, thanks to unions, most of this must be taught under threat of law, and teachers who refuse to cooperate get squashed.
So, our children are failing by design; it’s intentional. Communists masquerading as “teachers unions” have actively abused generations of children and taxpayers to the detriment of us all.
The author of the Examiner article is Rebecca Friedrichs. She is the founder of For Kids and Country, the author of Standing Up to Goliath, and a 28-year public school teacher who was the lead plaintiff in Friedrichs v. CTA.
Takeaway
In Deuteronomy chapter 6 Moses warns the people of God to hear the Words of God regarding our children.
He writes (v5), "You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, and with all your strength."
Be involved in your child's development physically, mentally, and spiritually. Your kid belongs to you, not the government.
(v6) "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart."
This is not a passive action between dinner and TV before going to bed.
(v7) "You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk with them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."
Keep God's Truth in front of your child in Word and deed. Live out your faith in front of your child.
(v9) "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Moses warned God's people that there will be consequences if they forget God and His Truth.
Ch. 28 v32 tells us what those consequences will look like:
"Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long: and there shall be no strength in your hand."
(v 41) "You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity."
Evil seeks to destroy our kids---hold them in captivity. Remove your child from public education if at all possible. Stand strong. Trust God.
And...
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Faithful. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.