Uncle Sam Will Use Schoolchildren to Pressure Parents on 2010 Census

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Barb

If you doubt John Taylor Gatto‘s assertion that public schools are all about indoctrination, not education, here’s something for you to consider.

The U.S. Census Bureau has announced a plan to educate schoolchildren on the benefits of the U.S. Census, and why they should nag their parents to answer the census takers who will be arriving at their front door next year:

Between January and March, the Census Bureau will help plan a week of Census education in schools. During Census Week, teachers will devote 15 minutes every day for five days to the topic by discussing such things as civic participation, confidentiality or geography. Beginning in mid-March, more than 120 million Census questionnaires will be delivered to residential addresses.

The Census Bureau is partnering with Sesame Street to extend the 2010 Census message to preschoolers and adult caregivers. Under consideration: Using Sesame Street characters on Census materials and having characters participate in school events and public service announcements.

Aside from the fact that the school day is supposed to be spent teaching kids how to read, write and do math, I have to wonder why the government is coming after kids with this Census Public Relations campaign. I understand that some students have non-English speaking parents and can explain the census to their parents. But they are the minority of students, and really should not be expected to do the government’s job.

But there’s something a bit more disturbing here. Consider what it says in the U.S. Constitution:

Representation and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers … . The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.”

— Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States

The Census Bureau quotes this part of the U.S. Constitution right on its site. Note the use of the word “enumeration.” According to Dictionary.com, “enumeration” means “to determine the number of; count.”

Now take a look at a sample of the census. Note that “How many people are living in this home?” is only the first question. Then the government wants to know the following about every person in the household:

First and last name

Sex

Age

Date of Birth

Hispanic or not?

Race

Whether each person sometimes lives somewhere else

How they are related to each other

That’s one heck of a lot more than just enumerating. It’s actually pretty intrusive, and certainly not specified in the Constitution. But the government wants this information badly enough that it’s got a plan for pressuring schoolchildren to get their parents to answer all of these questions.

In other words, they’re indoctrinating and using kids for their own purposes.

Yet another reason I’m glad to be a homeschooling parent. How about you?

The Cost of Homeschooling vs. the Cost of Public Schools

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Barb

I wonder if the average citizen really understands just how cost-efficient homeschooling is?

Back when I was homeschooling all four of my kids, the most I ever spent in a year for “school” was probably $1500, and that was when my two older kids took high school by correspondence.

That was a while back, but I have a hard time imagining someone today even spending $1000 per child to homeschool them. The thing is, educating a child costs far more in time than in resources, and we moms don’t invoice for that time.

As for resources, a Bible, a public library and some good museums are really all you need. The rest is gravy.

And there’s plenty of gravy in the public schools. Get a load of this, from today’s Wall Street Journal:

The state now spends roughly $13,000 per public-school student in Chicago, but the money has done little to reverse a dismal high school graduation rate of 51%.

Holy cow! For $13K annually per child, most homeschool parents could homeschool their children through graduation, and pay off the mortgage early with the money left over.

Public Education and President Obama

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Barb

Elementary School Children with Heads Down on Desk During Rest Period in Classroom

I don’t get it. If something doesn’t work, why would you want more of it?

President Obama recently spoke about his goals for public schools*. He acknowledges that American students have fallen behind young people in much of the rest of the world, but his solutions include longer school days and a longer school year. He said this even though he also admitted that his mother had to augment his own education by making him get up to study at 4:30 a.m.

I’d go on about this but someone else has already done a fine job of it. Check out Judy Aron’s take comparing President Obama’s speech to hearing a real expert speak about what’s wrong with public education: your friend and mine, former public school teacher and homeschool advocate John Taylor Gatto.

* where he chose not to send his own children

The Future of Homeschooling in an Obama Administration

Posted on November 15, 2008 by Barb

It’s been nearly two weeks since the presidential election. President-elect Barack Obama’s supporters are catching their collective breath and planning excitedly for the future. Republican voters are in mourning. And third-party supporters are resigned, having known full well before the election that they would not be happy with the outcome because it was unlikely that a third-party candidate would win.

Everyone is forming their own opinions about what will happen to the economy, the war on terror and our country in general over the next four years, now that we know who will be president during that time. What I’m wondering is, what will happen to homeschooling?

What has me worried is the very real possibility that Obama could choose his friend William Ayers as Secretary of Education. Phyllis Schlafly suggested this a few weeks before the election:

After all, Ayers is a friend of Obama, and Professor Ayers’s expertise is training teachers and developing public school curriculum. That’s been his mission since he gave up planting bombs in government buildings (including the U.S. Capitol and the Pentagon) and assaulting police officers.

I lived in the Chicago area for my entire life until last year, so I’m well aware that both Obama and Ayers are part of the same social circle that congregates in Hyde Park on Chicago’s near South Side. I know better than to believe those that claim Obama and Ayers barely know each other. I’ve read enough Chicago newspaper articles to know that Barack Obama has been deeply entrenched in the South-Side liberal Democratic network for many years.

Ayers is pro-socialism. His post-terrorist career has been based on training teachers to indoctrinate kids into groupthink, particularly in regards to certain social issues.

If Ayers becomes Secretary of Education, do you think he’ll have a problem with homeschoolers and our freedom to teach our children the way we see fit? I do.