Government schools and the state of the republic

September 25, 2014

OPINION BY GARY KIRKLAND

I start this essay with a bit of false reasoning, argumentum ad verecundium, which means appeal from authority.

I was a teacher in government schools for 37 years. I was able to observe what these schools do to the mindsets of students who attend. This essay will address these mindsets and how they have shaped and are shaping the United States of America.

One mindset that government schools teach, either overtly or by implication, is that government action is the solution to all social problems. Many teachers complained that private schools did not do as well as government ones and children should not go to private schools.

The teachers unions extol government schools and claim that private ones take money from the government ones. School staff equally slander home schooling. The First Five
people advocate that government should start teaching (brain washing) children long before kindergarten.

The implication is that parents are incapable of teaching their own children and that only the state is qualified to perform this function. Our governor, the Honorable Jerry Brown, is moving funds so the state can start indoctrinating three and four year old tykes the beauty of the state and its leader. Ever hear of North Korea?

Government schools use textbooks that praise state action. History books are replete with anecdotes about leaders of countries, wars, and legislative acts. The government textbooks claim that: progress occurs when laws force people to accept “good” changes; many private individual acts are evil if they go against the state; and wealthy entrepreneurs are “robber barons.” or, by implication “greedy capitalists.” Heroes advocate government action.

A following mindset that comes from the indoctrination students receive is that is the duty of the state to meet all citizens’ needs and that people have a right to the things they need. This extends from providing health care, shelter, employment, protection, transportation, and education. Soon people may demand from government
clothing, food, and funeral expenses. The belief is that the state is God and God shall provide all our needs. We must worship God to have our needs met.

Government school unions control most of what policies state schools have. The unions do this by actively trying to elect officials at the local, state, and national levels. Policies that make these schools more powerful and wealthy benefit union members.

Most people call government schools “public schools” because that sounds better and is less threatening. Restaurants such as: McDonald’s, Applebees, Chilis, etc., are public because the public is welcome. The public is not welcome in government schools. If one is not an employee or student and shows up on a public school campus without permission of the principal one is breaking the law and may be escorted off the campus.

Gary Kirkland is a retired teacher, an Atascadero resident, 35-year-old stockholder in the Atascadero Mutual Water Company and president of the San Luis Obispo County Libertarian Party.