[Vision2020] Re:"Government Schools" vs. "Public Schools"
Donovan Arnold
donovanarnold@hotmail.com
Tue, 11 Nov 2003 22:21:58 -0800
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<P>Dale is incorrect in his assumption about "public schools" being the same as "government schools." </P>
<P>First, Dale points to the fact that there are 171,000 references on google using the term "Government Schools". Well, there are 17 million references to public schools, so who is correct if numbers are pointing to being correct. What Dale also fails to explain is most of the uses of Government Schools are not referring to public schools. Public Schools are schools run by the public. Meaning they are run by people that are elected by the local public and the public decides policy. Government Schools refer to Federally run schools. These would be run by Federal elected officials and the locals that send their children to the school have little to no say in the policy. In the United States when someone refers to a Government School in large cities they are referring to schools on military bases. These are different than public schools. In most of the articles that Dale is referring to are other nations where the Federal Government runs the school. </P></DIV>
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<P>Using the term "Government School" as a synonym to "Public School" is abuse of the cultural context of the meaning in about 99.9% of the world and the United States.The only exception to this would be if they called it "Local Government Public School". This would define it as separate from that of "Federal Government School".</P>
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<P>However, if they were to call it a "Local Government School" it would eliminate the fear that people have of handing control of their child's education to a bunch of politicians 2,000 miles away that never lived in their community or know their values and concerns. This I imagine is the sole reason why they try to propagate the misuse of the term "Government Schools". </P>
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<P>I would concede the term "Government School" to be used if they also allow the term "Profit off your child Schools" or "Religious Indoctrination Schools" or "We don't let anybody in here Schools" to be used in turn for the schools they want to steal public dollars to support. Names can be destructive, that is exactly what they are trying to do. </P>
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<P>So let us use the correct terms, "Public Schools" in reference to schools that are locally funded and run, "Government Schools" should be used to describe what they always have, federally run and operated schools. And, "Non-Public Schools" to refer to privately run and operated schools. To do anything else is being dishonest, inaccurate, and full of malice. </P>
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<P>Donovan</P>
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<DIV></DIV>>From: "Dale Courtney" <DMCOURTN@MOSCOW.COM>
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<DIV></DIV>>To: <VISION2020@MOSCOW.COM>
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<DIV></DIV>>Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Devisiveness Must Stop
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<DIV></DIV>>Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 12:36:31 -0800
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<DIV></DIV>>Don writes:
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<DIV></DIV>> > But I wouldn't blame "government" for the fact that "public
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<DIV></DIV>> > schools" is the widely accepted term. Governments have a
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<DIV></DIV>> > long record of trying to change language, and I suppose
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<DIV></DIV>> > there have been some successes, but when you blame
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<DIV></DIV>> > "government" for everything you sound a little like the
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<DIV></DIV>> > county supervisors in Grangeville.
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<DIV></DIV>>Do I blame civil government for everything? Certainly not! However, the more
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<DIV></DIV>>statist we become, the more problems are the result of that centralization.
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<DIV></DIV>>Don, here's an anecdote of how government schools subtly indoctrinate. This
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<DIV></DIV>>is from the Libertarian commentator, Neal Boortz.
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<DIV></DIV>> _____
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<DIV></DIV>>First of all, let's get this out of the way in the first paragraph. They are
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<DIV></DIV>>not "public schools." They are government schools. They are owned and
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<DIV></DIV>>operated by government. Every employee, from the superintendent to the
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<DIV></DIV>>dishwasher in the cafeteria, is a government employee. So, let's call them
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<DIV></DIV>>what they are. Government schools.
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<DIV></DIV>>Being government employees, you would expect those who work in government
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<DIV></DIV>>schools to have the same behavioral characteristics as other government
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<DIV></DIV>>employees. You would be right. They react to the threat of privatization
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<DIV></DIV>>with the ferocity of a cornered bobcat and to the threat of accountability
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<DIV></DIV>>with the evasiveness of cockroaches.
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<DIV></DIV>>The truth, though, is that these are not so much schools as they are
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<DIV></DIV>>indoctrination centers. If your child is attending a Catholic school, you
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<DIV></DIV>>should expect that your child would be taught that the Catholics pretty well
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<DIV></DIV>>have this religion thing down cold. Ditto for a Jewish school, or one
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<DIV></DIV>>operated by a Christian fundamentalist church. Question: Will a government
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<DIV></DIV>>school be any different? Why would you expect a government employee in a
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<DIV></DIV>>government institution to tell your children that government is not
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<DIV></DIV>>necessarily the answer to every problem or critter that goes bump in the
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<DIV></DIV>>night?
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<DIV></DIV>>The new school year has been underway for several weeks now. Maybe it's time
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<DIV></DIV>>to give you a hint of what your child has been through.
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<DIV></DIV>>Do you remember those weeks before school started for your first grader?
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<DIV></DIV>>There you were, you and your proud new student walking the aisles of the
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<DIV></DIV>>local Costco with your list of school supplies in hand. You checked off the
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<DIV></DIV>>pencils, a ruler, a compass, paste, construction paper, a pencil holder,
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<DIV></DIV>>notebooks and erasers.
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<DIV></DIV>>At home, your first grader takes the supplies into his room and spreads
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<DIV></DIV>>everything out on the bed. Arranges them this way - then that way. Pencils
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<DIV></DIV>>next to the erasers, glue and construction paper lined up over here, compass
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<DIV></DIV>>and ruler lined up over there. These are his supplies. His! Do you hear? And
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<DIV></DIV>>tomorrow he is going to take them to school. He couldn't be more proud.
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<DIV></DIV>>Finally, the first day of school arrives. The night before all of the school
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<DIV></DIV>>supplies are packed, repacked, unpacked and repacked again. Then, that
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<DIV></DIV>>morning, just one more unpacking and repacking to make sure everything's
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<DIV></DIV>>still there and undamaged. OK! It's off we go to school! Apprehension mixed
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<DIV></DIV>>with pride. Your young man or woman is taking another grand step toward
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<DIV></DIV>>adulthood! What could go wrong?
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<DIV></DIV>>Plenty. Remember, it's a government operation.
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<DIV></DIV>>The students are seated, the bell rings. As fast as you can say the Pledge
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<DIV></DIV>>of Allegiance without the "under God" part, the indoctrination begins. The
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<DIV></DIV>>government teacher steps in front of her virtual hostages and promptly
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<DIV></DIV>>delivers the first raw lesson in the power of government. The students are
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<DIV></DIV>>instructed to bring all of their precious school supplies - their property -
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<DIV></DIV>>to the front of the classroom and put them into a huge box. They are told
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<DIV></DIV>>that the supplies belong to all of the class now, and the teacher will
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<DIV></DIV>>assume the responsibility of distributing the supplies as they are needed.
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<DIV></DIV>>"Whoaa! Hold on a minute here! These are my supplies. My daddy bought them
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<DIV></DIV>>for me. You can't have them! They're mine!"
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<DIV></DIV>>Nope. Sorry! They were yours. Now all those supplies belong to - guess who?
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<DIV></DIV>>The government!
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<DIV></DIV>>There's a method to this madness. Your child is being taught that there are
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<DIV></DIV>>some severe limits to the concept of private property. It is perfectly OK,
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<DIV></DIV>>for instance, if the government just steps up and seizes your property if
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<DIV></DIV>>there are other people who might need some of your stuff. After all, it's
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<DIV></DIV>>just not right for you to have something that other people don't have or
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<DIV></DIV>>can't share in, is it?
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<DIV></DIV>>This whole "dump your supplies into this box" is not an innocent exercise.
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<DIV></DIV>>Your child's teacher might not even be aware of it, but this lesson in
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<DIV></DIV>>government power is a time-honored method of introducing your child to the
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<DIV></DIV>>concept that there is something basically wrong with owning private property
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<DIV></DIV>>- but everything will be OK if you just let your superiors even things out a
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<DIV></DIV>>bit by taking some stuff from you and giving it to someone else.
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<DIV></DIV>>How did Marx present this concept? I think it was something like "From each
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<DIV></DIV>>according to his ability; to each according to his need."
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<DIV></DIV>>Day number one, lesson number one: Your rights to your property exist only
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<DIV></DIV>>so long as government will allow, and it's just not fair to have more stuff
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<DIV></DIV>>than someone else.
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<DIV></DIV>>And this is just the first week! More surprises in store! Wait until you get
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<DIV></DIV>>that call from your child's teacher with vague, dark hints of a better world
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<DIV></DIV>>for your child if only he was on Ritalin.
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