By Nancy Thorner & Bonnie O'Neil -
There is a growing concern that our children and grandchildren that attend public schools today, especially at the college and university level, are being unduly and purposely influenced to a specific political viewpoint of its faculty rather than facts and/or opposing views that allow students to decide issues based on more information rather than relegating them to a single undisputed viewpoint decided for them.
Should the public find acceptable that teachers and professors push their own personal political viewpoints to students, some of whom do not even provide opposing positions that allow students to consider all options? One of America’s key values, from its very foundation, as guarantied in our Bill of Rights, has been that all essential facts be provided to enable each citizen to decide what is best for them, their families, and the direction they believe is best for our nation through
The ratio of Democrat professors to Republicans in our nation's colleges is 10-1, with many Democrat professors more Socialist-leaning in their political views than Democrat, which explains why students who were raised in a conservative home often leave college with a complete change in their political views.
Parents pay millions of dollars to send their precious children to our institutions of learning, only to discover the school and professors have maligned the very values they embrace and have tried to instill in their children, key elements that propelled this nation into prosperity and world-wide respect. Is it any wonder why parents are beginning to lament over the many thousands of dollars spent, which in some cases involve personal sacrifice, so their child could obtain a college degree only to be indoctrinated instead of educated?
Walter E. Williams in his article, FOCUS: Colleges: A Force for Evil, describes how many of the nation's colleges have become a force for evil and a focal point for the destruction of traditional American values. Contempt for the First Amendment and other constitutional guarantees by many college students was mostly also likely also shared by the students' high school teachers. Brainwashing and indoctrination of young people has produced some predictable results when in a 2018 Gallop Poll only 47% of adults said they were "extremely proud" to be Americans, with the least proud being nonwhites, young adults, and college graduates.
In this recent report of February 19, 2019:
"America’s top colleges and universities have bulked up politically correct courses that “malign conservatives,” and Ivy League schools have put a focus anti-Trump offerings, according to a new report from Young America’s Foundation.Harvard University, Cornell University, Columbia University, and Dartmouth College have created courses that question the Trump presidency, scrutinize his “fake news” charges and call his election a sign of “of an imminent apocalypse.”
Most of us, having not attended school in decades, would be shocked at the changes that have occurred in our children's school curriculum, where many classroom discussions and student reports are designed largely to promote liberal ideals. Nor does the American public realize how teachers at all levels of education use their classrooms and other resources as opportunities for political indoctrination tools that lean way far to the Left of center and are contrary to what their parents think and/or believe is appropriate.
Common Core's Historic Failure
Most parents are unaware that Obama’s Common Core (K-12) has nothing to do with raising academic achievement but all to do with indoctrinating this and future generations into a prescribed social justice agenda to "dub down" American education by taking away local and parental control of education.
As related by Jane Robbins, Senior Fellow with the American Principles Project, in her Townhall article of Nov 11, 2018, Evidence Reveals Full Extent of Common Core's Historic Failure:
"Paid advocates such as the Thomas B Fordham Foundation continues to push Common Core despite overwhelming evidence of the slow-motion train wreck that has resulted — reduced student achievement by almost every metric. Fordham refuses even to acknowledge the bad news, much less try to rationalize it [Fordham receives funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, la major proponent and founder on the Common Core scheme.]”
As revealed in this article, Yes, Common Core is advancing a left-wing agenda:
"To put it succinctly, those of us who knew from the beginning that Obama’s Common Core had nothing to do with raising academic achievement but all to do with indoctrinating this and future generations into the social justice agenda were absolutely correct!
It frustrates me greatly that the so-called education “experts” would not listen to us when we needed them to help the most – when Common Core could have been stopped at its inception."
This report by Alex Newman and Dr Duke Pesta, Insanity in the Classroom, Government Schools Today, should be of concern to all parents who assume that a public school is giving your child a balanced education.
"Despite major funding, U.S kids are doing progressively worse at math, reading, land more, but it's not their fault blame schools and their curricula and those controlling them. Government schools are indoctrinating children such as David Hogg of March for Our Lives against God, guns, and freedom and then using them to transform America. In science, the focus is on climate alarmism — that greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels cause global warming — and that secular evolution is the only theory that exists.”
Furthermore, with so-called non-discrimination school policies in place, sexually immoral adults or pro-abortion/ LGBTQ activists cannot be barred from classroom access to children, although most teachers will try to do what is right.
In a report dated February 19, 2019, the charter school, Mason Classical Academy, in Naples, Florida, having decided against forcing kids to learn using the Common Core method of teaching endorsed by Obama, soared to the number one position in the State's top schools.
As to young students, they rarely consider, let alone understand, that they are being indoctrinated to a teacher’s viewpoint. Even a cursory investigation would provide evidence proving some, if not most, teachers/professors blatantly spew their viewpoint about most issues, some even without providing an alternative option for students to consider. Students who have been forewarned about the need to think for themselves after they have thoroughly investigated all aspect of the issue, are far less apt to be influenced by a teacher or professor with an agenda. These students also do well in life as they are careful to believe facts rather than conjecture; proof over vague possibilities.
How Teacher Unions weld power
Teacher’ Unions, entrenched in their “status quo position”, weld unbelievable power in determining school policy. Consider the blatant attacks waged against Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos and her proposed Sexual Assault Guidance.
A January 17, 2017 article from Education Week, a source proclaiming to be politically neutral, slammed Betsy DeVos' Proposed Sexual Assault Guidance and further called her public enemy #1 with teacher unions.
At the time DeVos had yanked an Obama-era civil rights directive governing the handling of sexual assault and harassment, mostly on college campuses, because it didn't go far enough with her proposed replacing of Title IX guidelines to protect the due process rights of the accused. Under her changes, schools would decide if an assault happened based on whether there is "clear and convincing evidence." That's a higher bar for proving claims than the Obama administration's guidance, which called for schools to consider a "preponderance of evidence" (essentially, more likely than not).
In 2019 Betsy DeVos was slammed again when Devos and her team proposed updated guidance on sexual assault, including its impact on K-12 schools.
Could this be due to DeVos being appointed by President Trump? In part yes, but it's also due to DeVos' Christian faith, and especially her support of school vouchers, which the education establishment views as a direct shot at its grand tradition of public schools.
Teacher Unions have often used their positions of influence to introduce and promote their political views to the public, also “looking the other way” when there is evidence that vulnerable students are being indoctrinated with a specific political agenda.
Without question we want sexual assaults to be reported and investigated, but due to the severe consequences of being labeled a sexual predator for life, it seems prudent there must be more than just an accusation before someone is convicted of this crime by school authorities, at times even without the student receiving a fair representation.
The unfair assumption prevalent today is that males, on most every college and university campus, plus to a lesser degree at the high school level, are most often considered the predator and women as the innocent victim. This assumed scenario is out-of-date, unfair, and counterproductive to the goal of protecting ALL students from unwanted sexual misconduct and/or being accused of crimes they did not initiate and/or commit.
If school officials are unwilling to address problems even when they have been identified, there are independent groups, although limited, who advocate for students’ rights when a problem or issue arises. One such group, Freedom X, is dedicated to protecting religious and conservative freedom of expression against those who wish to censor or silence this freedom of expression.
But don't discount media sources who are often willing to expose problems if contacted and provided the facts.
A celebrated media involvement
Co-author Bonnie O'Neil relates how a newspaper became involved in her county of Orange County, Ca. The Orange County Register investigated, and factually wrote an article as to how school authorities chose to protect a teacher rather than a student who had reported the teacher's irresponsible “rant” against Trump voters, after learning he won the election and was our new President. It was reported that after the “rant,” she had the audacity to ask all who voted for Trump to stand, while she continued to malign our new President. The professor was exonerated by school personnel and the Teachers’ Union for expressing her strong, personal views, but the student who reported her “rant" ended up being disciplined by school authorities, When the local newspaper dug out all the facts and reported them, hundreds of community citizens were justifiably outraged and demanded appropriate changes be made, while the Ca. Teachers’ Union continued to protect the teacher and ignored the more important issue: students deserve protection from teachers who use their position to sway vulnerable students to their personal political views.
Doesn't the public have a right and/or responsibility to demand that public schools, colleges, and universities are investigated when there are reports of teacher indoctrination techniques and abuse being practiced? Unquestionably yes, as today's students are our future leaders and voters who will determine our future as well as their own.
