Today’s Public Schools, Part IV–Analyzing the Results of the Experimental Years

A Failing Grade in Most Subjects

In our previous article, we revealed some of the atheistic plans
designed by Horace Mann and John Dewey to change the thinking of this
modern generation of students.

In May of 1988, Jack Kilpatrick wrote in his syndicated column:

In 1993, the Board of Education in Washington, D.C. reported that “over 700,000 graduating seniors [nation-wide] could not read their
diplomas.” (Sills, Op. Cit., p. 2)

Two years later, The Washington Times printed an article, with the
headline: “U.S. Pupils Continue Slide in Reading–4th-Grade Drop
Worst in Virginia.” The article quoted Colorado’s education
commissioner and chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board,
William T. Randall, who said:

“The results of the 1994 NAEP [National Assessment of Educational
Progress] reading report should serve as a wake-up call to Americans,
or, better yet, a whack on the head….Reading — as a skill, as an
information-gathering process and as a recreation — is in serious
trouble. The decline in test scores among 12th grade students is itself cause for alarm.”

• FAILING IN HISTORY

Student knowledge in the area of history is also shockingly poor.
William C. Bennett, National Secretary of Education, wrote an article
in December of 1986, and said:

“There is a reason to doubt that we are successfully educating
Americans about the world. A Southern Governors’
Association report recently documented the ‘international illiteracy’
in American schools: 20% of 6th-grade students surveyed could not
locate the United States on a map!

“A 1985 survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress
revealed that American 11th-graders knew astonishingly little of their
own history. Two-thirds of them could not place the Civil War in
the correct half-century. One-third of them failed the same test
for the Declaration of Independence, for Columbus, and for World War
I. Nearly a third could not say which two nations were our
principal enemies in World War II. And to half of them, the names
Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin were unfamiliar.

“….Am I criticizing our children? I am not. If they do
not know these things, it is in most cases not their fault. Blame
for this situation falls on all of us whose job it is to educate
American children.” (U.S. Department of Education release, 12/5/86)

A report from the Deseret News, Thursday, April 5, 1990, stated:
“Is there any field of learning in which America’s schools are not
falling down on the job?

* “Barely half of 12-graders know that presidential
candidates are nominated by national conventions, or that the
Constitution guarantees religious freedom.

* “Among younger students, 62% of eighth graders apparently
did not know that Congress makes laws. Nearly a third could not identify such historical figures as Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln. Only 25% knew that Lincoln’s main goal in the Civil War was to preserve the union.

* “Though more than half of fourth-graders knew the names of
Columbus’ three ships, only 35% knew why the explorer sailed to America in the first place.”

• FAILING IN MATH

In 1982, thousands of 12th-graders in various countries took an algebra test offered by the International Association for Evaluation of
Educational Achievement (IAEEA). Hong Kong ranked first, barely
ahead of Japan. The United States finished 14th among the 15
countries tested–just ahead of Thailand, and just behind Hungary
(From Daily News Digest, Phoenix Arizona, 8/26/87, p. 4).

Fortune Magazine made this statement about schooling in America, in its February 1, 1988 issue

“The progressive preference for utility and ‘effective living’ over the
inspiring and instructive richness of our cultural heritage works its
way all through the curriculum and powerfully shapes what
high-schoolers learn, or don’t learn. These days cooking and
driving courses count as much toward a high school diploma as English,
history or science courses….

“Though progressive education has been doing its work for more than 60 years, it took the upheavals of the Sixties and early Seventies to
exaggerate all its tendencies and hasten the evacuation of learning
from the schools.” (p. 89)

An article in Time Magazine, dated June, 1988, states further that:

“Educators have been fretting for years about the state of math
instruction in American public schools. In one attempt to get
students on track, Congress in 1965 passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, sending a back-to-basics message that it hoped would improve achievement in math and other subjects. Last week the results of such efforts were totaled up in a newly released study titled The Mathematics Report Card–Are We Measuring Up? Its
assessment of the performance of U.S. high school students in 1986:
‘Dismal.’

“The study was conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) of Princeton, N.J., and based on tests given to 150,000 pupils from 1972 to 1986. Among the findings:

* “More than a fourth of 13-year-old middle schoolers cannot
handle elementary-school arithmetic.

* “Nearly one-third of eleventh-graders say they generally do not understand what the math teacher is talking about.

* “Only 5% of 17-year-olds can handle algebra or multi-step math problems.

* Scores for blacks and Hispanics, despite modest gains, lag 7% to 11% below those for whites.

* “….the average Japanese high schooler does better at math
than the top 5% of Americans taking college-prep courses….

“…Mary Lindquist, professor of math education at Columbus College in
Georgia and a co-author of the report, comes down hard on teaching
methods.

‘We have taught kids to be little calculators, but they do not know why they do what they do,’ she says, adding, ‘They don’t know what numbers mean.’”

The Third Wave: Alarmed Parents Challenge Violence and A Degenerate Social Environment at School

The third group of concerned parents who decided to home school their children were those who became fearful for the safety of their
children. Parents observed their children being threatened both
physically and spiritually by an ever-increasing violent and deviant
behavior that became prevalent in many schools. It’s becoming
DANGEROUS to send our children to school!

• VIOLENCE

In a Newsweek article of February, 1988, the major problems in the
schools were listed in order of their importance. Their list
reveals the true problems on school campuses:

According to an article published in the Deseret News on August 29,
1994, conditions at many schools are frightening at best. For
example, this article states that:

* Every school day,
160,000 students stay home from school
because they are afraid.

* One in 11 teachers has been attacked at school. * Many teachers have
considered leaving the profession because
of violence and intimidation.

* Every day, 135,000 juveniles carry guns to school.

* A new poll of
adults by Phi Delta Kappa, the professional education fraternity, ranks violence as the No. 1 problem in
public schools and poor
discipline as No. 2.”

Daily inner-city news reports tell of missing children, or violence on
the school grounds, in neighborhoods, and violence of every kind within
nearly every sector of life.

• GANGS

The Associated Press released an article from New Orleans in March of
1990 which gave some frightening statistics and observations about the
activities of youth groups–commonly called “gangs.”
Apparently they are increasing at an alarming rate and feeding off the
public schools as “gathering places”. As the article notes:

“Some of the issues raised at the 17th National Conference on Juvenile
Justice…give the impression that America is not a great place to
raise your kids.

“‘Gangs are coming to a community near you,’ Ronald Stephens, director
of the National School Safety Center in Encino, Calif., told the
conference….

“The number of gangs are growing, Stephens said, with total membership
exceeding 100,000 in the nation’s three largest cities: Los
Angeles has 800 gangs, Chicago 120 and New York 50. The average
age of a gang member is 23.

“‘There’s a gang for everyone: both sexes, many
ages and every ethnic group….The members are violent, enterprising
and often free of remorse,’ he said.

“‘Kids are coming into gangs at an earlier age and staying in a longer
time,’ he said. ‘Female activities are growing. Many are
mules, carrying drugs or weapons.’”

“Who belongs to gangs?” asks a Deseret News editor, March, 1990. Here we read:

“Youngsters of all races, colors and creeds. Frequently,
membership is made up of minority youths, youngsters who have trouble
in school, those with troubled home environments, those who are lonely
or lack success in their lives and who seek and find acceptance in the
gang culture.

“In areas where gangs operate, the temptation, the peer pressure, the
‘easy’ money from drugs and the physical intimidation of young people
can introduce fear, compliance in criminal acts and drug use into the
lives of youth who might otherwise avoid such behavior….

“Parents may do their best and still see children fall victim to other
forces, but no community program can ever really replace the home in
solving the problem of gangs.”

• DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

Deviant behavior has been introduced into the school systems in a
variety of ways. Most openly, by attempting to make these
practices seem like they are merely”acceptable alternate life
styles.” For example:

“School teachers in Madison, Wisconsin, are taught how they can
integrate lesbian history into the public school curriculum. They
are told in district-sponsored conferences that being gay is as
acceptable as being heterosexual; that gay students need role models;
that lesbian teachers in the district can provide those role models;
and that those who disagree are ‘homophobic.’

“‘Subtlety is the key,’ the teachers are told. ‘Blatant, radical
change only invites the negative reactions of Christian parents.’
The most effective way to incorporate homosexual ideas is through ‘the
subtle introduction of terms, questions, stories involving lesbian
couples and other hidden messages.’” (Focus on the Family
Citizen, June 18, 1990, p. 10)

To see how far, how degenerate, and how brazen many have become, in the
introduction of specific sex educational techniques in the classroom,
one need only read the article printed in Education Reporter, in July
of 1987, entitled: “‘Anatomical Dolls’ Stir Sex Ed Debate.”

Just a few years ago, a memorandum was sent out from the Los Angeles Unified School District, Office of Instruction, stating:

“On May 18, 1992, the Board of Education passed a resolution
recognizing June of each year as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. The
resolution is based on District policy contained in the “Educating for
Diversity” document, which states as a District goal the development of
“students who appreciate and respect diversity and understand the roles
and contribution of people of diverse groups.” The document calls
upon the District to include in the curriculum the historical and
current role and treatment of homosexuals in society, “the
contributions of gay and lesbian people in history and culture, and the
current status of homosexuals as it relates to social policy, family
diversity and human relations.” (Don Sills, Op. Cit., p. 1)

Other amoral behaviors are taught right in the classroom, in what are
called “survival games.” These are killing games in
disguise, a euthanistic, genocidal approach to solving problems.
The students have to decide who will live and who will die.
Writes author Dr. Murray Norris, president of Valley Christian
University in Fresno, California:

“In one workshop for Oregon teachers, a group of teachers decided they
would save a homosexual architect so he would be able to rebuild the
world after a nuclear holocaust. At the same time, they would
relegate to death, some other more normal person. Students
playing the same game have given the same reason for saving the same
person, while killing an older person they felt would not contribute as
much to the community. Actually there is no real right answer to
this game as all the answers are right when there is no right or wrong.

“These survival games, and other ‘reality’ games which teach cheating
and bribery as part of everyday life, have come under fire by many
parents. In Howard County, Maryland, the survival games have been
dropped in public schools–that had provided them for children from
kindergarten through grade twelve.” (“Weep For Your Children,” Op.
Cit., p.

More appropriate for another study on the social, ethical, and moral
trends of the nation would be the statistics of abortions, illegitimate
births, crime, graft in high places, greed in low places, etc.–all of
which are simply products of an educational system, inasmuch as people
tend to behave according to what they believe. People believe in
what they have been taught.

• PERVERTED VALUES CLARIFICATION

One of the areas of greatest concern for many parents who have elected
to take their children home, is to protect them from the teaching of
perverted values. One of the most popular ways of doing this is a
process called “situation ethics.” One of the best examples of
this teaching technique is recommended in a manual called “Sex
Education: Teacher’s Guide and Resource Manual,” produced by
Planned Parenthood of Santa Cruz, California. One of their major
stories is entitled “Alligator River.”

Here is that story quoted directly from their manual:

(This information taken from the California Monitor of Education, September, 1981, p. 7)

Alligator River”The Alligator River story is a widely used technique to help people clarify their values and become more aware of their own attitudes. It tends to be a fun way to initiate classroom discussion.

It seems that students face confusion on every side. In addition
to discussing stories like the one above in class, they watch adults in
high places appear determined to crush any desire a young person might
have to obey parental admonitions and remain virtuous. In 1987
the National Education Association endorsed the distribution of contraceptives to students at school health clinics “in an effort to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy” (Ogden Standard Examiner, July 5, 1987, p. 10A).

• SATANISM

One more area of “learning” that is growing by frightening proportions
in the public school classroom, is the actual yet subtle study and
teaching of Satanism.

“An elementary reading textbook series called Impressions, published by
Hold Rinehart & Winston of Canada, is alarming parents throughout
the country. The curriculum celebrates witches in poems and
encourages students to cast spells and find ‘familiar spirits.’
Some stories focus on violent death, while others have a New Age
flavor. One story even centers on cannibalism. Artwork in
the teacher’s edition is consistently dark and gruesome. Teachers
are also advised in the guide that ‘there are no…universal truths.’

“Parents who complain to school boards about Impressions are told in
several instances that the texts were part of an early Canadian edition
not intended for the United States. But the offensive texts
continue to appear in local school districts.

“A Northern California mother walked into her fifth-grader’s room
during his school’s open house to find the youngsters gathered in a
circle playing a Dungeons & Dragons-style game called The
Wizard. The children cast spells on each other. A bulletin
board explains the purpose of the game: to progress from one ‘spelling
power’ level to the next. Humans are at the lowest end of the
spectrum, having ‘very limited powers’ and ‘at the mercy of most
monsters.’ Higher levels include enchanters, sorcerers, magicians
and the Wizard.

“Shocked by what she saw, the parent questioned the teacher, who sees
nothing wrong with the game. So, the mother began a lengthy
curriculum challenge….and the matter is still undecided.”
(Focus on the Family Citizen, Op. Cit.)

No wonder parents–including former Secretary of
Education, William Bennett–are crying out for sound moral
education! His excellent symposium, as quoted in Insight
Magazine, January 5, 1987, should be required reading for every teacher
in public as well as private schools.

Summary of the Three Waves of Education

We have already demonstrated that generally there are three types of
families who are extremely concerned for the welfare of their
children’s education:

We have already demonstrated that generally there are three types of
families who are extremely concerned for the welfare of their
children’s education:

1. Those who were part of the first wave,
desiring more control over the CONTENT OF CURRICULUM
being taught;

2. Those who were part of the second wave,
desiring a greater level of ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT; and

3. Those who are part of the third wave,
desiring an educational ENVIRONMENT free from
violence and deviant behavior.

To further assess what parents are doing about these dangerous
educational trends, we need to examine two vast groups who are steadily
increasing in numbers across the entire nation: Home schooling
families, and private schools.