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Victims of Government Education
By Doug Patton
July 30, 2001

"The philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." - Abraham Lincoln

A nationwide survey commissioned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation recently asked 1,020 youngsters between the ages of 12 and 17 a series of ten fourth grade level history questions. The results are not at all surprising to those of us who believe the only solution left for American education is to scrap the current system altogether and rebuilt it on a completely different premise.

Consider the following:

10 percent did not know that George Washington was the first president.

17 percent did not know that there were 13 original colonies.

15 percent did not know that the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

Nearly one in four did not know who fought in the Civil War; 13 percent thought it was the United States and England.

Nearly one-third didn't know that Francis Scott Key wrote America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."

To make matters worse, the questions were multiple-choice, thereby giving the students a one in four chance of guessing the right answer.

I would bet good money that these same children could recite all the currently fashionable, politically correct, environmental extremist propaganda. A recent John Stossel piece for ABC proved that, with virtually every child in a class of young public school students spouting the party line on global warming.

What can we expect from a government organization totally dominated by the largest, richest, most liberal union in the history of the country? The National Education Association exists for the purpose of promoting its radical, left wing agenda, and that agenda is affecting the education of our children. Consider:

The NEA believes in abortion. They call it "reproductive freedom," of course, but the union is radically pro-abortion, promoting it through all nine months of pregnancy. Not content to encourage that terrible right, they also believe that our tax dollars should pay for it. Fifteen-year-old girls may not know that James Madison is the father of our Constitution, but they have been brainwashed to believe that whoever wrote that dusty old document intended that they should have the right to kill their unborn children.

The NEA believes in the radical homosexual agenda. They call it "diversity," but the truth is that the union is promoting an agenda of perversion to children too young to even understand sex of any kind. In the name of "tolerance," our public schools have been turned into propaganda centers for the "sensitivity training" of innocent children. If the NEA has its way, high school boys may not know the meaning of the words "nature and nature's God," but after years of misinformation about gay "role models," they know that Sodomy is a normal, healthy, "alternative lifestyle."

The NEA is adamantly opposed to parental choice in education. Knowing that they have failed to provide a good fundamental education for our children, they use their vast wealth to support politicians (almost exclusively liberal Democrats) who will block any meaningful program of school choice. So frightened of competition is the NEA that they have called for a ban on the sale of any empty public school building if it is to be used as a private or religious school.

The NEA labels as "extremists" any parent who criticizes public schools, especially on religious grounds. State affiliates of the NEA have held seminars on how to deal with critics from what they call "the radical right," "the extremist right," or "fundamentalists." Public school children have never been told that the Founders were religious men who feared and revered God. If they had, they might think our nation was founded by "extremists."

The NEA is not an educational organization. They are a radical political organization cloaked in the disguise of "education." The union takes stands on issues that have nothing to do with education. Some of their current resolutions include support for a nuclear freeze, statehood for Washington, DC, and a world court.

For too long, public education in America has been reminiscent of the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes," wherein everyone knew that the emperor was naked, but no one would say so. For too long, the National Education Association has had a stranglehold on the heritage of America. For too long, our children have been victims of government education.

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a speechwriter and policy advisor to federal, state and local candidates and elected officials. His work can be viewed weekly on GOPUSA.

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