Monday, January 27, 2003

Next up: Bring back child labor!

In case there was any doubt that the conservative movement has gone completely over the edge:

Laura Schlesinger: Close the public schools

For example, our public-school children hear that the Founding Fathers are not to be revered. They were greedy, patriarchal oppressors who were in it for the money and the power. America is not a noble experiment in freedom and equality. That was the cover story, as we stole the land from the indigenous people. America wasn't recently attacked by terrorists. America is the terrorist!

Furthermore, there are no such things as great books, since all the books we were misguided enough to think of as great, were written by those same old white male misogynists from the evil empire of Western culture. What's just as great is any diary written by any woman, slave or Native American and recently discovered in someone's trunk. And woe to anyone who disagrees.


Please, can anyone tell me where there are public schools that actually teach like this?

A shortage of teachers, a kaleidoscope of standards, endemic failure, annual budget shortfalls, states taking over local school districts and guns in the classroom are unavoidable signs of public-school collapse. I think Oregon may have the right idea. They are looking to shorten the school year by 15 days. How long before it's clear to them and to us, that we should simply close them altogether?

The conservative agenda in 2003: Let's return to 1903! Or better yet, 1803!

It's worth noting, of course, that Oregon's schools mostly have been suffering from the widespread ill effects of a series of anti-tax measures passed by the Hate Gummint crowd. You know, the people who actually bother to listen to Laura Schlesinger.

[A tip o' the Hatlo hat to TBogg for the heads-up on this.]

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