Defund Our Public Schools
By Angry Old American
Copyright Angry Old American, August 15th, 2020. All Rights Reserved.
Yup, this old hater has found another target, and this time it is our beloved schools. Yes, the very schools that we have been dumping extra dollars into “for the children” are now in the cross-hairs of Angry Old American’s keyboard.
Before getting into the real issue of this article, let us take a close look at our local schools compared to others in the State of California, then against other State Educational Systems, and finally against the entire World. How do our local schools stack up against the rest?
According to our District Profile at the California Department of Education,
the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress for the 2018-2019 Year assessed Del Norte County Unified School District for all grades, students and schools. This assessment follows:
English Language Arts (ELA):
Only 35.98% of this County’s kids met or exceeded the State Standard for English Language.
Level 1: 38.96% Standard Not Met
Level 2: 29.07% Standard Nearly Met
Level 3: 24.69% Standard Met
Level 4: 11.29% Standard Exceeded
Mathematics:
Only 25.48% of students met or Exceeded State Standard Math requirements.
Level 1: 47.31% Standard Not Met
Level 2: 27.21% Standard Nearly Met
Level 3: 17.33% Standard Met
Level 4: 8.15% Standard Exceeded
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) at the National Center for Education Statistics (nationsreportcard.gov):
From a National Public Score of 0-500, California got a score of 235; meaning its 2019 average scale score is significantly lower than National Public. The State of California ranked 44th Nationally!
According to Pew Research Center, United States High School proficiency compared to all other Countries:
Science: USA Ranks #24
Mathematics: USA Ranks #30
Reading: USA Ranks #24
According to School Digger (schooldigger.com), for the years 2018 thru 2019, the Del Norte County Unified School District ranked #655th out of 826 Districts in California. Out of five stars, the Del Norte County Unified School District earned a ONE STAR RATING!
So, there we have it. The USA does not have schools that rank among top schools in the world; but is pretty much average in all three categories of test scores. In the United States, California ranks low against all but a handful of States. Considering the mediocre standards set by California, the Del Norte County Unified School District is not doing well at all. Sure, our kids are not as deficient as those in the Dominican Republic or Kosovo; but still nothing to brag about.
I am certain that there are sincere educators in the Del Norte County Unified School District that are dedicated to provide an education despite the California mandated Marxist curriculum. But then, such educators will certainly not boast, nor will they demand additional financial rewards for a job well done. In a Marxist educational system, excellence in true educational achievement is not rewarded. Indoctrination of Marxist values is the primary goal of all California Public Schools!
Education in the past was provided to prepare young people to become responsible and productive adults. Practical reading and writing in the National language (English), mathematics, sciences, fact based history, and physical education were provided from elementary school onward. Students faced ever-increasing intellectual challenges to build comprehension, memory and reasoning skills. The object of primary instruction was to build a platform for advanced studies in High School and College.
Only sixty years ago, High Schools were a launchpad for independent young adults. These old High Schools provided vocational programs for those who would not be attending College. Local businesses and trade unions offered internships and apprenticeships where students could hone their skills and have jobs waiting upon graduation. Those tracking toward College faced a strict, disciplined and very competitive environment to earn a scholarship. Before the military draft ended in 1973, most young males faced the lottery. When the draft ended, those who did not achieve or excel in High School vocational programs or receive a scholarship had options of voluntary military service in Vietnam, unskilled manual labor, or a career in crime.
Those were different times. The values that we learned were far different than those of today. We were taught that we were personally responsible and accountable for our own livelihoods and actions. Our decisions and actions had consequences. Good or Bad outcomes were the consequence of either good or bad personal decisions and actions. There was a price exacted for mistakes and triumph was earned. Nobody owed us a living. Caveat Emptor, “Let the Buyer Beware” was understood by all. If we were cheated or took to the cleaners by a huckster, there was little sympathy from others, and only embarrassment on our own part. We were either wise-guys or chumps, and nobody tolerated Whiners! Kids back then learned more from the school of hard-knocks than from public school. We knew the value of a dollar because each and every one was earned. Most of us grew up earning cash with newspaper delivery routes, mowing lawns, pumping gas and odd jobs. We were assured that if we did not work as adults, we would not eat. The welfare Nanny-State of today did not exist.
These old schools were easy living for kids compared to their predecessors. One need only look back at the old McGuffey’s Readers to appreciate how degraded American education has become. First published in the 1830s, McGuffey’s Readers were the staple of “One Room School Houses” that sprang-up throughout America in the 1880s. Kids would work the fields full-time with their parents during planting and harvest seasons. When schools were in session, children would rise early in the morning to do chores before going to school. Most would not receive more than a sixth grade education.
I own an old McGuffey’s 5th Grade Reader from the 1880s. In Fifth Grade, these nineteenth century students were studying classical literature that included The Iliad by Homer and select works of Shakespeare. Fifth Graders were learning Latin. They learned about civics and history by reading the Constitution and first hand historical accounts. They learned to perform geometry and algebra along with their practical relationship to engineering and farming. By the time children of the nineteenth century graduated the Sixth Grade, they had the equivalent of a higher quality High School education than is provided today.
There was a time when an education was valued above all things. Schools in America were exclusively private at first. Only communities prosperous enough to afford a teacher provided a public education. Most often, kids worked. Lacking a school, if a child was lucky, they learned to read the Bible at church. Bibles were the most popular books of the time. Other books were swapped for leisure study at night. There was no radio, TV, or internet. Music was only available if someone sang or played an instrument. Reading was both entertainment and education. It was the Steel Tycoon Andrew Carnegie that launched a campaign of providing public libraries to communities. Throughout the United States, and later the rest of the world, 2,509 Carnegie Libraries were built between 1883 and 1929. Many attribute our evolution from the steam-driven industrial revolution to the great scientific and technological advances of the 20th Century to these Carnegie Libraries.
Think about how far we have regressed during the past hundred years. We started at a time when an education was prized, fought for, competed for, earned through long hours of concentrated hard work. These were tried-and-true, practical no-nonsense values that actually produced results. Now, we have removed competition, hard work, challenge, personal responsibility and accountability. Society is now perceived to be at fault for a student’s failure, and thus must provide an endless stream of entitlements throughout their miserable lives to compensate for personal sloth and failure.
What is the future of education in California and Del Norte County? I recently encountered an excellent article “California School Board Faces Ire of Parents After Teacher Reveals Shocking Union-Backed BLM Curriculum” by Kira Davis published on RedState. Ms. Davis explains that in July of 2020, a new K-12 Black Lives Matter Curriculum was endorsed by the National Educators Association (NEA) and California Teachers Association (CTA). Both the NEA and the Administrators California School Association (ASCA) recommend these lessons for all primary school children. Lessons will be offered on such lofty subjects as Decolonization, Racism, Whiteness, White Fragility, White Privilege, White Savior Complex and White Supremacy. The wide range of White Supremacist slogans and beliefs exposed by the program include “Make America Great Again, The Myth of Meritocracy (Nothing is earned but awarded exclusively based on race), Paternalism (Fathers are bad), False claims of there being only one Human Race, All Lives Matter, and even Good Intentions!”
Of course, any mention of Black Lives Matter must include the subject of childrens sexual identity and sexual orientation. According to the new Black Lives Matter curriculum, all children have the choice of what sex they wish to be based upon their own personal feelings. The California Department of Education (CDE) claims this choice can be made as young as two years of age. According to the article, “The National Educators Association (NEA) partnered with the Human Rights Campaign who created preschool lessons teaching unlimited gender choices.” So don’t be surprised if your preschool child goes to class a girl or boy and returns as something else! You will have no say about the issue because our Teachers Unions endorsed AB329 “The California Healthy Youth Act.” AB329 removes the requirement for parental permission slips for a child’s attendance at sex education classes at all grade levels. For those who wish to study all of the details, links are provided at the end of this article.
This Teacher sponsored LGBTQ educational program within the BLM Curriculum implies a very young “Age of Consent.” According to what is promoted in our schools, the child alone has a choice of their gender, and the age of choice and consent to treatment is very young. The youngest transgender child to date is only three years of age (in the UK). Many States here in the US presently allow therapy and gender modification medications between the ages of six and sixteen, with the average start of hormone therapy at the age of twelve. If the child voices their desire to become transgender, the parent legally cannot interfere.
How many full grown adults have regretted tattoos and body piercings? How many adults regret taking their first drink of alcohol? There are increasing numbers of transgender people who regretted their adult decisions and are switching back to their original sex. Alcoholics Anonymous and substance abuse treatment facilities are filled with adults trying to beat addiction. There are very good reasons the children cannot get tattoos or body piercings before they are 21 years of age. There are good reasons that children cannot buy alcohol before the age of 21. Considering young children to have the wisdom to make mature decisions as profound and life altering as gender change is nothing short of insanity.
Black Lives Matter has become a popular slogan. Taken as a statement, “Black Lives Matter” is impossible to deny. Of course Black Lives Matter! However, as the new State curriculum exemplifies, the Black Lives Matter Movement has nothing to do with their slogan. They have morphed into Maoist Cultural Revolutionaries. Maoism was responsible for the eradication of over 80,000,000 people in China alone. First they eliminate the symbols and values, then the people themselves are systematically killed.
Because the Del Norte Unified School District receives financial support directly from the State of California, it is impossible to entirely remove their funding. However, funding for public schools is determined by the number of students enrolled. If students are either home schooled, or enrolled in private and charter schools, then public school funding decreases proportionately.
We can demand the removal of the additional County tax assessment that is paid each year. That was money cast into a deep dark bottomless pit, and the Schools recently considered asking for an additional tax bailout. We would need at least five thousand dollars to put a measure on the ballot to remove this ridiculous tax.
We as a community must demand more private and charter schools in Del Norte County. We need educator-entrepreneurs to step forward and establish institutions of learning. President Trump has offered all Parents free choice of schools. Take advantage of your opportunity to choose a school before your children are completely ruined by Marxist and Maoist indoctrination. Demand conversion of existing public schools into private and charter schools. Demand teachers that do not belong to Marxist Teachers Associations. Demand that these schools teach the basics of language, math and science skills that can serve students when they become independent adults. Demand that Communist indoctrination be banned from school curricula.
There is room for a public school or two in Del Norte County. There are certainly enough Communists in our midst to support public education. Allow room for “The Mao Tse Tung Academy of Cultural Revolution” and “The Pol Pot Institute of Ethnic Cleansing.” I am sure our local Marxists, Maoists, drunks, druggies, whores, hustlers, gamblers, beggars, thieves, ne’er-do-wells, miscreants, drug and human traffickers will fill them to the brim. There should be places other than prison for those who shun personal responsibility and accountability.
It is not my intent to belittle community members who left out local schools educationally impaired. Hopefully, we will one day offer free remedial adult education to repair the damage done by decades of Marxist indoctrination. At the very least, we can prevent future generations from being harmed by California Public Education!
If you found this article useful, please share it with others. Be mindful that many may have been educated locally. Do not assume that they can read. They might not be capable of reading and are too embarrassed to admit it. Remember, if you are reading this article, then you are in the elite minority. Over sixty three percent of those who attended our local schools are functionally illiterate. It is not their fault; they were never schooled. They were shortchanged of an education. Ask them respectfully and in a polite way if they would like you to read the article to them aloud.
External Links:
RedState article California School Board Faces Ire of Parents After Teacher Reveals Shocking Union-Backed BLM Curriculum by Kira Davis on RedState.com
https://www.redstate.com/kiradavis/2020/07/27/882000/
Black Lives Matter page at the California Teacher’s Association
https://www.cta.org/our-advocacy/social-justice/black-lives-matter
National Education Association Black Lives Matter page:
https://neaedjustice.org/black-lives-matter-school-resources/
Stop K-12 Indoctrination website
https://www.stopk12indoctrination.org/
Thanks for stopping by. The Crescent City Times is a small independent publication, and one of the very few that lends a platform for conservative voices. As for myself, I am an independent journalist and have received no pay for my articles in the Crescent City Times, Epoch Times or elsewhere. I write exclusively for independent media that publish the truth.
Respectfully,
Angry Old American
