Dismanteling Society
Rick Santorum has admitted that it is the goal of the right to dismantle the education system. In his new book he not only lambasts women who work outside the home, but gives us a glimpse of what the true agenda of the extremists republicans are trying to accomplish. This quote is from the Washington Post and highlights my point:
"The senator includes a discussion of the advantages he and his wife, Karen, believe they have reaped by home-schooling their six children. Home-schooling, he said, is not for everyone but "is one viable option among many that will open up as we eliminate the heavy hand of the village elders' top-down control of education and allow a thousand parent-nurtured flowers to bloom."
OK, this is a dreamy notion of parents being able to stay at home and educate their children instead of sending them to school, but its not realistic for most people. It works for Santorum because he extorts $100,000 a year from the state of Pennsylvania, while he and his family live in Virginia, so that his wife can home school their children.
I think what is most alarming is that it is his stated goal to dismantle the education system in America. There are those of us who have always believed that this was one of the goals of the republican party. Anyone who thinks that they are trying to leave no child behind is fooling themselves. What they are really trying to do is eleminate the education system so that they can line their pockets with even more of our money and force us to pay individually for education servcies.
posted by liberalprogressive @ 9:36 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
"this is a dreamy notion of parents being able to stay at home and educate their children instead of sending them to school, but its not realistic for most people. It works for Santorum because he extorts $100,000 a year"
I'm a lifelong liberal, and I homeschool. Santorums extortion is a separate issue from homeschooling. One is against the law and the other is not. Homeschooling is not only for the privileged. My family lives on a single modest bluecollar income that is well below the average for this area. We choose to forego the twin SUVs, nice vacations, a bigger house, and gobs of other material goods in exchange for plenty of time together as a family, and a custom education for our children. Plenty of progressive homeschoolers do the same. Homeschooling is not the partisan action some make it out to be.
You're right. Santorum's extortion is separate from the homeschool issue. And homeschooling in itself is not a bad thing. It is a choice that many families make. And it is a choice that should be available to anyone who can manage it, progressive or otherwise.
I'm just saying that people shouldn't be forced into making that decision based on proscribed cultural mores because it doesn't work for most people. And they shouldn't be forced to make that choice by people who are more interested in controlling other people's lives. Especially when they claim to be the model of that particular choice, when in reality, they are just the opposite.
Post a Comment
<< Home