THE CAPTURED CHILD IN AMERICAN EDUCATION: ARE PRIVATE, PAROCHIAL AND HOME SCHOOLS THE ANSWER? (PART III)
Is it time to empty our public schools of Christian and other faith-based students?
In the February 19, 2023, blog/podcast, I shared the term “captured” student. Not only are today’s students captivated (supposedly) in their classes but they are also captured. Teachers who exploit their secular progressive views in the classroom assume all students share their perspective. Students, who are forced to absorb propaganda from one ideological sway, do not have the means nor the courage to get up and leave the classroom in the midst of a lecture. They are truly a captured audience. Please read Part I blog and Part II blog!
It was Friday before Halloween. The elementary school where I was teaching was thoroughly decorated with goblins, pumpkins and black cats, ready for the onslaught of costumed children. Every year this school and many others like it celebrated Halloween with students donning their costumes the last 30 minutes of the day. At assigned times, each grade level would parade around the school, displaying costumes of all types. Superheroes appeared as the costume du jour!
But there were always those families who put a damper on any holiday celebrations. Our school had one such family who already called the principal, the year before, upset their first grade son performed a Christmas song with his class. No internet available in the ’70’s so the complaint came in the form of an angry phone call.
These same parents were now demanding their three children not participate in the Halloween celebration. Both parents worked full time so there was no way for these children to escape from the festivities. What do you do when three children cannot participate in an all-school activity? You keep them captured!
It was my turn to lead students up the stairs from our lower level classroom for their parade around the school. Clamorous excitement echoed throughout. We were all in the party mode so I didn’t expect to be startled. Suddenly I saw a situation which broke my heart. As I looked up from the stairs, I saw three Black children’s faces peeking out from behind the faculty lounge door. Because of their Muslim faith, these children were excluded from the frivolity. Three somber faces validated that sequestering them in the faculty lounge was not the answer. In an instant, my philosophy of teaching children changed forever.
Before this “teachable moment” I embraced the fact that most children in our country celebrated holidays such as Christmas and Halloween. My philosophy of teaching was, like many others, “the majority rules”. It was simple, yes? If children didn’t feel comfortable in participating in all-school celebrations, they either sat it out or stayed home. What would have been a better solution for that day? Perhaps asking the parents what activities they suggested in celebrating their Muslim faith. Find a classroom, not a lounge, to provide a fun environment. This was an opportunity lost which could have gained an outcome of compassion instead of one of indifference.
Many of today’s educators have no problem creating an environment where children feel uncomfortable in the name of critical thinking. With a secular progressive agenda, what is taught at home is considered archaic and irrelevant. Children of faith are discounted and in some cases, even humiliated publicly for their beliefs.
Do I want kids to “worship God” in the public school classroom? Absolutely not. And my reason? Whose God and whose faith would be included or rejected? Another reason? Math and reading scores need to ascend the ladder of competency in order to contend on the world stage before we interject any faith-based curriculum.
Many would also argue that Christian kids feel just fine in their school system. Easy to say if your children are grown or you truly believe today’s educational curricula is even-handed when it comes to subject matter. Race (oppressor verses the oppressed), and gender (God-designed verses human-altered) have intertwined with the required curriculum of reading, writing and math. The values of Christianity, which once guided our public schools (see the history of our schools in Part I), have been subverted with constant litigation. Many of today’s teachers, filled with rhetoric from their Teachers’ Colleges, use their classrooms as socialistic manifestos. And yet Christian teachers in the public schools (yes, they do exist) would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law if they included any precepts coming from Christian philosophy or literature.
My hope is that teachers, who callously or unknowingly use their classrooms as social platforms, will have the same experience I did back in 1977. No child should ever feel uncomfortable in any American classroom. With the prevalence of superhero costumes at Halloween, our teachers should don the virtual superhero mentality and demonstrate daily the champion mindset for all their students.
What do parents do when they are threatened with a secular progressive driven curriculum? The public schools are seeing a mass exodus. At my last school, we did a “whites of their eyes” count of all students on one specified day. The district stipulated that accuracy must be paramount as our funding for the school year depended solely on our enrollment numbers. So think about that before you celebrate the departure of any children from our public schools.
According to the New York Times, Christian schools boom in a revolt against curriculum of the public schools.
The Lion (Herzog Foundation headlines: Huge Leap of Faith: Christian schools see record jump in enrollment, with more students on the way, demonstrating the significant shift from public school attendance to Christian schools by those feeling disenfranchised.
Education Next, a non-partisan research organization, reports that nearly two million students have left the public schools since 2020. Some disturbing national and statewide headlines: “Declining enrollment clobbers California’s schools.” “Enrollment Declines Haunt School Districts.”
So just do it, Christians! Take your kids out of the public schools by next fall. Not so fast. Our political leaders preach equity but paying for private and parochial schools is elitism. And here’s why.
According to U.S. News: The average annual tuition among America’s K-12 schools is $12,350 as of August this year, according to EducationData.org. There is also a huge variation among private school tuition costs in different states. Connecticut has the highest prices, with an average cost of high school tuition hitting a whopping $33,610 a year, which is more than twice the national average.
Tuition may be the biggest cost associated with a private school, but it is not the only one. Technology ($1,500 a year), books and supplies ($500), field trips ($500), uniforms ($400), athletics ($300) and a bevy of other expenses can add to the overall bill. These extra expenses raise the total average nationwide cost by almost 30%, from $12,350 to $16,050, according to EducationData.org.
What about homeschooling? At the inception of homeschooling, as an educator, I thought it a terrible “experiment.” Would these kids be socially deprived? How do parents know what to teach? What would institutions of higher education think of the homeschooled student application to attend their schools? This is no longer your grandfather’s home school!
Home schools of today provide bi-weekly social interaction through physical education, academic and performing arts clubs. Parents have an abundance of access to online support. This from Khan Academy: Fortunately, college admissions is handled very similarly for homeschoolers as it is for traditionally schooled students. In fact, many admissions offices actively seek out homeschoolers.
Some statistics(National Home Education Research Institute) are in order:
The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests.
One nationwide study shows that 41% of homeschool students are Black, Asian, Hispanic (U.S. Department of Education, 2019).
Taxpayers spend an average of $15,240 per pupil annually in public schools, plus capital expenditures (National Education Association, 2021). The roughly 3.7 million homeschool students of 2020-21 represented a savings of over $56 billion for taxpayers.
So what are your thoughts? Do we empty our pubic schools of Christian and other faith-based children? Are the public schools completely God-less? Is there a way to balance subject matter so that children do not feel uncomfortable? Answers are coming soon but I would be interested in your’s. Please use the Leave a Comment button. Be kind in your responses!
Order your copy today. Winner of the 2020 Topshelf and 2022 Mainstream Media Non-fiction Book Award. AMAZON REVIEW: Teachers and parents young and old will gain from reading her straighforward narration of her experiences. Highly recommended.
I would be happy to address your school, district, school board or Teachers’ College. RESCUE THE TEACHER, SAVE THE CHILD! is equipped with thoughtful questions at the end of most chapters designed for students, parents, teachers and administrators. Let’s encourage a national conversation on education for all of our children. You can reach me at rescuetheteacher@yahoo.com.