Boiling

I was talking to my liberal/hippie sister the other day about how we disagree on a whole lot politically, and that's a credit to our parents for teaching us how to think. Now, of course, she thinks wrong, so that's not much of a credit, but . . . ;) Just kidding, Brecken.

One thing that really gets my dander up is politically indoctrinating children. Especially when it's done in public schools. Children are really good at pointing out supposed breaches of the separation of church and state, but I'm pretty sure they don't catch on to when someone is trying to get them to believe in communism. For instance, once a student in my classroom in a casual conversation to another mentioned the role of Diety in the world. Another shushed him, looked around hoping no one had heard, and said in a whisper, "You can't talk about God in school or you'll get arrested." These were not 5 year olds, in fact they were 12.

I don't really have any personal experience with political indoctrination, but I can imagine how it would go. As a very loose example, when I was in 4th grade my teacher, on a tangent, talked about her beliefs about taxes (a typical middle left ideology) and for years I just assumed that everything she had said was right. She was my teacher and I loved her, and it all sounded right. I don't think she was trying to push her ideas onto us, but that was the effect.

So, my blood really started to boil when I read this article. It's a long one, so let me summarize the part that got to me. Whether or not Barak Obama is friends with Bill Ayers, while serving with him on that school comittee (Chicago Annenberg Challenge education-reform project) the comittee gave $1,056,162 to the Small Schools Workshop, a program Ayers and Klonsky (a man more communist that the current Chinese government) founded together. Their program supports schools that urge "teachers not to mince words with children about the evils of the existing social order. They should portray 'homelessness as a consequence of the private dealings of landlords, an arms buildup as a consequence of corporate decisions, racial exclusion as a consequence of a private property-holder’s choice.' In other words, they should turn the little ones into young socialists and critical theorists." (As observed by Sol Stern.) Obama went on to serve on the board of the Joyce and Woods fund which gave more money to this indoctrination system. All together Obama participated on boards that gave $1,968,718 to turn children into socialists.

Let me be clear. People have a right to a socialist or even a communist ideology if they so choose. However, it is NOT acceptable to buy children's minds to indoctrinate with your ideology. The article did not make it clear of these schools were charter schools (basically public schools with a twist) or private schools. At least I couldn't find it. If they were charter schools I consider the activity dispicable. If they were private, my view depends on where the money came from originally. However, in either case I can no longer support any part of Obama's education plan.