Harrisburg, PA- The Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus is prioritizing students and families by establishing the Student Freedom Account Program, which would allow students and their parents to choose a school that best suits them, no matter their zip code.
Sounds great, as an abstract concept. In practice, I hope this school choice plan achieves the desired outcome. The devil is in the details, as they say.
For far too long, Pennsylvania students have come in near the bottom of all nations in reading, math, science, history, English composition and technology. Most of our high school graduates in this state can't read, write or count money. But they sure know the leftist democrat propaganda that schools have indoctrinated them with. It's terrible.
This is not good for small school districts who depend on their students to stay in the district. Who would provide transportation to these other schools for the children who want to attend somewhere other than where they live. The school district also cannot afford to stay in the business of education if their attendance drops. This would mean a number of schools would no longer be able to keep afloat. Charter Schools make a huge hole in district with fewer students along with the large districts whom have many students enrolled and this is costing the taxpayer every day a student enrolls in Cyber Charter or Brick and mortar Charter. I don't think this would be a benefit to the taxpayer with the amount of school taxes that are needed now.
I can't believe you call yourselves conservatives, if you actually consider primary and secondary education to be anything other than a Governmental responsibility and function whose outcome is the transmission of a strong, free, and independent Republic into the CAPABLE hands of "the next generation" of American CITIZENS!
If a private school is teaching primary- and secondary education to American kids within the USA or on "American soil" overseas (such as "on military bases or embassy compounds"), those teachers are doing so in the capacity of AGENTS OF THE UNITED STATES or as "agents of some State which is a Member entity of the USA"!
For them to be considered (and regulated) as ANYTHING ELSE would constitute a RISK TO THE VIABILITY AND SURVIVAL OF THE USA AS A NATION.
Education is not a "consumer good", like automobiles or tennis-shoes! It's not "baby-sitting" or any other kind of "child-care", designed to give Mom or Dad (or both) or "the guardian" some kind of "me-time"!
Education is the provision, unto "the next generation of U.S. Citizens" "the basics" of (to paraphrase or summarize what Thomas Jefferson said, when establishing the University of Virginia) "that which it is needful for Citizens [of the new Republic] to know, in order that they be able to maintain that Republic and guide her courses into a Future that NONE [who are] NOW LIVING will ever see"!
Kids have to know that money doesn't grow on trees! They have to know that, in a country where we have a Bill of Rights that includes "freedom of religion", IT IS THE NEXT THING TO TREASON, IF NOT TREAON, ITSELF, to heap contempt or abuse upon ANY OTHER PERSON, due to that person's espousal of one religion, rather than another!
They have to know that ALL U.S. Citizens are "equal, in the eyes of the Law", in this country; and that, therefore ANY DIMINUTION OR ABROGATION OF OTHERS' RIGHTS IS ILLEGAL FOR THE REASON THAT IT ASSAULTS THE CONSTITUTION, which was established in order to ENSURE [i.e., "establish, guarantee, and enforce", rather than "'INSURE', as with some kind of 'insurance policy' that pays money, from public coffers, to victims of 'untoward events including abuse)'"] DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY!
Kids have to know that the Merriam-Webster Dictionary didn't get published, until the NINETEENTH CENTURY, which didn't even BEGIN, until AFTER the Constitution was not only written, but RATIFIED; so, spelling wasn't standardized. THEY HAVE TO KNOW not only HOW TO READ the CONSTITUTION, but WHY and WHERE our understanding of its contents might be different, today, from the understanding of those same passages, that the Founding Generation of American Citizens had!
And KIDS NEED TO BE TAUGHT not only HOW to "hold their public servants and elected officials accountable", but also HOW TO CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT and, even HOW TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION, ITSELF!
They have to be TAUGHT not only what sort of AWESOME POWER will be placed into their hands, when they reach the age of maturity [currently designated as EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE, in the United States of America, no matter what any particular bodies of religious "law" might hold true, in the realm of spirituality and religious observance],...
...but they have to be taught the AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY that will be placed on their shoulders, also!
And they MUST BE TAUGHT how it is possible, not for "supermen" or "titans", but FOR THEM, THEMSELVES, to WIELD that power and to CARRY that responsibility, happily, joyfully, and yet SAFELY,...
...not only for their own sake and benefit, but for the sake and benefit of their families, their neighbors, their communities, their country, and the world, at-large!
If "Parents" have some kinds of "needs" or "desires" regarding their kids' education, that are OVER AND ABOVE the need that the USA and the States, EACH, have, in preserving the State and the Republic of which that State is a component,...
..."the market" will, surely, provide some means --in some quantity and at some price-- of AUGMENTING (rather than "replacing") that which it is THE INTEREST AND DUTY OF THE STATE TO PROVIDE, IF THE STATE WISHES TO CONTINUE TO EXIST.
Plenty of American school-kids go to religious schools, to learn the fine points of the doctrine(s) of the religions that the kids' parents --the people who are legally responsible (and LIABLE) for their children, while those children are minors-- IN ADDITION TO those kids' public-school schooling.
The same can be said, of kids whose parents send the kids to "nationality-focused", "heritage"-type training (including foreign-language training) IN ADDITION TO those kids' public-school schooling.
So, I'm not saying that the Government must (or, even, CAN) teach EVERYTHING.
But, if the Government does not look "with a jaundiced eye" upon "alternative education" being taught to American Citizens who, upon arrival at their 18th birthday, will be invested with ALL OF THE POWER, RIGHTS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES that are the portion of all other U.S. CITIZENS "of legal age",...
...the Republic is probably "standing on shaky ground".
So, that's why I think "school choice", as presented, here, represents a SUBSTANTIAL RISK.
[NOTE: In the Constitution of The State of Maryland, the "Declaration of Rights" includes (or "included, in the early 2000s") OFFICIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the right of the People to ABOLISH their Government (or "form of Government")!
So, do the public, private, and charter schools, in Maryland, teach the kids, in Maryland, HOW such an abolishment might be carried out in an orderly, but unquestionably legitimate, definite, and irrevocable?
Or, are "the People of Maryland" expected to merely "seek redress of their grievances" by "going out in a blaze of glory"?
Whose job is it, to teach "the way" of the free, independent, SECULAR Republic, to "the next generation?
What consequences would be likely to flow from the various possible answers that might be voiced, in response to that question?]
What philosophy does the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus espouse, whose tenets and rationales would tend to "trump" the points I raise, here, in this comment, which I provide "off the top of my head"?
Why does the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus support "school choice"?
Given that my own rationale is rooted in the US Constitution, I consider my own position to be "conservative", upholding that which has existed for more than 200 years, and which (at least, since "Marbury vs. Madison") has been understood to reign supreme, in the USA.
Does the rationale that the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus would offer stand, also, on the US Constitution?
Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" might be a venerable tome; but, the Constitution is the supreme law, in the USA.
And "The People" who have the responsibility to guide this Republic are no longer limited to those few sons of planters and ships'-captains whose formal education was "capped-off" with a "Grand Tour [of Europe]".
EVERYBODY who was born in this country is a Citizen in FACT, now, unless they have forfeited their right to vote by engaging in certain pursuits that the Constitution finds repugnant.
Does the USA have as much right to defend its own ability to continue to exist, on earth, as part of manifest reality, as other living, political entities have?
I always thought our education system was the primary means by which this place was defended!
If we're going to give the job to contractors, to perform, can we at least ask them to certify, in writing, that they're working for US? Can we, at least, try to ascertain whether or not they are like the scorpion that, mid-stream, stung the frog to death, that was in the process of carrying that scorpion across the river?
Sounds great, as an abstract concept. In practice, I hope this school choice plan achieves the desired outcome. The devil is in the details, as they say.
For far too long, Pennsylvania students have come in near the bottom of all nations in reading, math, science, history, English composition and technology. Most of our high school graduates in this state can't read, write or count money. But they sure know the leftist democrat propaganda that schools have indoctrinated them with. It's terrible.
This is not good for small school districts who depend on their students to stay in the district. Who would provide transportation to these other schools for the children who want to attend somewhere other than where they live. The school district also cannot afford to stay in the business of education if their attendance drops. This would mean a number of schools would no longer be able to keep afloat. Charter Schools make a huge hole in district with fewer students along with the large districts whom have many students enrolled and this is costing the taxpayer every day a student enrolls in Cyber Charter or Brick and mortar Charter. I don't think this would be a benefit to the taxpayer with the amount of school taxes that are needed now.
I can't believe you call yourselves conservatives, if you actually consider primary and secondary education to be anything other than a Governmental responsibility and function whose outcome is the transmission of a strong, free, and independent Republic into the CAPABLE hands of "the next generation" of American CITIZENS!
If a private school is teaching primary- and secondary education to American kids within the USA or on "American soil" overseas (such as "on military bases or embassy compounds"), those teachers are doing so in the capacity of AGENTS OF THE UNITED STATES or as "agents of some State which is a Member entity of the USA"!
For them to be considered (and regulated) as ANYTHING ELSE would constitute a RISK TO THE VIABILITY AND SURVIVAL OF THE USA AS A NATION.
Education is not a "consumer good", like automobiles or tennis-shoes! It's not "baby-sitting" or any other kind of "child-care", designed to give Mom or Dad (or both) or "the guardian" some kind of "me-time"!
Education is the provision, unto "the next generation of U.S. Citizens" "the basics" of (to paraphrase or summarize what Thomas Jefferson said, when establishing the University of Virginia) "that which it is needful for Citizens [of the new Republic] to know, in order that they be able to maintain that Republic and guide her courses into a Future that NONE [who are] NOW LIVING will ever see"!
Kids have to know that money doesn't grow on trees! They have to know that, in a country where we have a Bill of Rights that includes "freedom of religion", IT IS THE NEXT THING TO TREASON, IF NOT TREAON, ITSELF, to heap contempt or abuse upon ANY OTHER PERSON, due to that person's espousal of one religion, rather than another!
They have to know that ALL U.S. Citizens are "equal, in the eyes of the Law", in this country; and that, therefore ANY DIMINUTION OR ABROGATION OF OTHERS' RIGHTS IS ILLEGAL FOR THE REASON THAT IT ASSAULTS THE CONSTITUTION, which was established in order to ENSURE [i.e., "establish, guarantee, and enforce", rather than "'INSURE', as with some kind of 'insurance policy' that pays money, from public coffers, to victims of 'untoward events including abuse)'"] DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY!
Kids have to know that the Merriam-Webster Dictionary didn't get published, until the NINETEENTH CENTURY, which didn't even BEGIN, until AFTER the Constitution was not only written, but RATIFIED; so, spelling wasn't standardized. THEY HAVE TO KNOW not only HOW TO READ the CONSTITUTION, but WHY and WHERE our understanding of its contents might be different, today, from the understanding of those same passages, that the Founding Generation of American Citizens had!
And KIDS NEED TO BE TAUGHT not only HOW to "hold their public servants and elected officials accountable", but also HOW TO CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT and, even HOW TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION, ITSELF!
They have to be TAUGHT not only what sort of AWESOME POWER will be placed into their hands, when they reach the age of maturity [currently designated as EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE, in the United States of America, no matter what any particular bodies of religious "law" might hold true, in the realm of spirituality and religious observance],...
...but they have to be taught the AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY that will be placed on their shoulders, also!
And they MUST BE TAUGHT how it is possible, not for "supermen" or "titans", but FOR THEM, THEMSELVES, to WIELD that power and to CARRY that responsibility, happily, joyfully, and yet SAFELY,...
...not only for their own sake and benefit, but for the sake and benefit of their families, their neighbors, their communities, their country, and the world, at-large!
If "Parents" have some kinds of "needs" or "desires" regarding their kids' education, that are OVER AND ABOVE the need that the USA and the States, EACH, have, in preserving the State and the Republic of which that State is a component,...
..."the market" will, surely, provide some means --in some quantity and at some price-- of AUGMENTING (rather than "replacing") that which it is THE INTEREST AND DUTY OF THE STATE TO PROVIDE, IF THE STATE WISHES TO CONTINUE TO EXIST.
Plenty of American school-kids go to religious schools, to learn the fine points of the doctrine(s) of the religions that the kids' parents --the people who are legally responsible (and LIABLE) for their children, while those children are minors-- IN ADDITION TO those kids' public-school schooling.
The same can be said, of kids whose parents send the kids to "nationality-focused", "heritage"-type training (including foreign-language training) IN ADDITION TO those kids' public-school schooling.
So, I'm not saying that the Government must (or, even, CAN) teach EVERYTHING.
But, if the Government does not look "with a jaundiced eye" upon "alternative education" being taught to American Citizens who, upon arrival at their 18th birthday, will be invested with ALL OF THE POWER, RIGHTS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES that are the portion of all other U.S. CITIZENS "of legal age",...
...the Republic is probably "standing on shaky ground".
So, that's why I think "school choice", as presented, here, represents a SUBSTANTIAL RISK.
[NOTE: In the Constitution of The State of Maryland, the "Declaration of Rights" includes (or "included, in the early 2000s") OFFICIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the right of the People to ABOLISH their Government (or "form of Government")!
So, do the public, private, and charter schools, in Maryland, teach the kids, in Maryland, HOW such an abolishment might be carried out in an orderly, but unquestionably legitimate, definite, and irrevocable?
Or, are "the People of Maryland" expected to merely "seek redress of their grievances" by "going out in a blaze of glory"?
Whose job is it, to teach "the way" of the free, independent, SECULAR Republic, to "the next generation?
What consequences would be likely to flow from the various possible answers that might be voiced, in response to that question?]
What philosophy does the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus espouse, whose tenets and rationales would tend to "trump" the points I raise, here, in this comment, which I provide "off the top of my head"?
Why does the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus support "school choice"?
Given that my own rationale is rooted in the US Constitution, I consider my own position to be "conservative", upholding that which has existed for more than 200 years, and which (at least, since "Marbury vs. Madison") has been understood to reign supreme, in the USA.
Does the rationale that the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus would offer stand, also, on the US Constitution?
Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" might be a venerable tome; but, the Constitution is the supreme law, in the USA.
And "The People" who have the responsibility to guide this Republic are no longer limited to those few sons of planters and ships'-captains whose formal education was "capped-off" with a "Grand Tour [of Europe]".
EVERYBODY who was born in this country is a Citizen in FACT, now, unless they have forfeited their right to vote by engaging in certain pursuits that the Constitution finds repugnant.
Does the USA have as much right to defend its own ability to continue to exist, on earth, as part of manifest reality, as other living, political entities have?
I always thought our education system was the primary means by which this place was defended!
If we're going to give the job to contractors, to perform, can we at least ask them to certify, in writing, that they're working for US? Can we, at least, try to ascertain whether or not they are like the scorpion that, mid-stream, stung the frog to death, that was in the process of carrying that scorpion across the river?