Education

Vouchers: For and Against

by Laurence M. Vance March 14, 2012

The recent school shooting in Ohio in which three students were killed has focused attention once again on the dangers of public schools. It is bad enough that students in public schools are being dumbed down instead of educated; are exposed to rampant sexual promiscuity; are forced to get every available vaccine; are put on ...

Too Little, Too Late

by Laurence M. Vance February 28, 2012

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is seeking to repeal two Department of Education regulations that intrude on the authority of the states to set education policy. The Protecting Academic Freedom in Higher Education Act (H.R. 2117) repeals certain Department of Education regulations that for purposes of determining whether a school is eligible to participate in programs under the ...

The Problem with Public Education

by Laurence M. Vance November 1, 2011

In the wake of the shootings in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this year, a bill was proposed in the Arizona legislature that would allow faculty members at universities and community colleges to carry a concealed weapon while working on campus. Naturally, this was a polarizing topic among students and faculty. Had it passed, Arizona would have been the second state ...

Student Loans and DOE S.W.A.T. Teams

by Wendy McElroy June 10, 2011

On March 11, 2010, Washington Post blogger Valerie Strauss asked an intriguing question: “Why is the Education Department purchasing 27 Remington Brand Model 870 police 12-gauge shotguns?” On June 7, 2011, the answer became clear. At 6 a.m. a S.W.A.T.-style team of 15 officers from the U.S. Department of Education's (DOE) Office of Inspector General broke down a ...

The Drug of Choice for Public Schools

by Rich Schwartzman May 24, 2011

Dependency on government is as detrimental to a society as drug addiction is to an individual. A situation in Pennsylvania — likely similar to situations in other states — reflects a continued unhealthy dependence on the federal government. Briefly, Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed 2011–2012 budget had $1.1 billon less for education. That’s the same amount of money the state didn’t ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: Public Schooling vs. Educational Liberty

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 18, 2010

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Public Schools and Social Conflicts

by Jim Powell July 1, 2010

Government is widely perceived as a foundation of social order, yet it is the single greatest source of disorder. Political power constantly tempts those who control it to enforce conformity with their religion, education, lifestyle, or other preferences. Naturally, other people tend to have their own preferences. They don’t want anybody else telling them what to do. They evade ...

Obama’s Message to Schoolchildren

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2009

When President Obama announced last August that he would address American schoolchildren in a nationwide televised speech, the Right went bananas. August, of course, was the height of the health-care controversy, and conservative leaders and media commentators imagined that Obama was going to make an overt pitch for his quest for government control over medicine and medical insurance, as ...

Imprisoning Musical Creativity

by Jennifer Warren-Baker August 1, 2009

I am a composer. Since the age of 12, I have been painting canvases of sound at the piano. But my teachers never cared. In fact, my type of talent was deemed worthless by the government’s public-school system. Growing up in the D.C. area, I didn’t have any real models to follow. In the shadow of the nation’s capital, ...

Milton Friedman Was Wrong on Vouchers

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 24, 2009

In an article I wrote in September 1990 entitled “Letting Go of Socialism,” I pointed out how public schooling is a model of a socialistic program. I also addressed the issue of school vouchers: But the real tragedy is that so many freedom devotees in America also won’t let go ...

The Socialism of Public Schooling

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 5, 2008

While the nation is on the subject of socialism, we really ought to talk about public schooling. With the possible exception of the military, it’s the best example of a socialist institution one could ever find. It’s not a coincidence that public schooling is one of Fidel Castro’s favorite government ...

Education: Free and Noncompulsory

by Scott McPherson February 1, 2008

“The transfer, by the parents, of so much of their own authority and responsibility to the schools is in most ways a cowardly and contemptible business.” — John Holt, What Do I Do Monday? Several times in the last few years, after I’ve written some criticism of the public-school system and called for a complete separation of school and state, ...