School Choice vs School Curriculum: Part 2

More Critical Thinking about which is more important

TY for the plentiful, good feedback (publicly and privately) about my recent School Choice vs School Curriculum commentary.  Here are some followups and clarifications:

1 - I assumed that we all understood what “School Choice” meant, but maybe that was an error. Here is a sample definition:

“In short, School Choice is the ability to pick from a variety of education options—including traditional public, charter, and private schools. Not every student thrives in the same classroom environment, so these options allow families to make the best decisions for their own children.”

It’s critically important to note that School Choice does NOT give parents the option of selecting a school that has an appropriate curriculum — as that is determined on the state level (by the State Board of Education: SBOE).

2 - Some observations about Home Schooling:

a) Even though it is included in a few, most definitions of School Choice (e.g., above #1) do NOT include homeschooling. One reason is that homeschooling is already a parental right in essentially all states.

b) Here are each state’s laws regarding homeschooling.

c) Some national statistics about homeschooling.

d) Consider this: How School Choice undermines Home Schooling.

3 - Despite it not being an official part of the School Choice campaign, some people were passionate about homeschooling.

a) See #1 and #2.

b) I have always been a supporter of homeschooling (see my Report and commentaries), so it was not clear why some were defending homeschooling.

c) The best reason to do homeschooling is that parents can control the curriculum — as the curriculum is the main thing that needs fixing! We are on the same page…

d) That said, just focusing on the benefits to your family is myopic. Home-schooled children could be well-educated, but what about the 90±% of the rest of the public they will have to live with the rest of their life? We need to better their lot — for their sake, and for the sake of our children!

e) Despite its benefits, for multiple reasons, there is no way that homeschooling will ever be done by more than a small minority of families.

4 - Some people said to scrap the US K-12 education entire system and start over.

a) Due to the K-12 education system being a bureaucracy, it is undeniable that many aspects of it are undesirable and counter-productive.

b) Such an objective is simply not practical, as it is WAY too much to take on. So far we have not been able to correct things that are 5% of what that job would entail, so how can taking on a challenge that is 20 times harder make sense?

c) The reality is that the K-12 education system — particularly the curriculum — is controlled by 10± politically appointed people in each state. Getting to that small number of people can have profound consequences. This is exactly what the Left did several years ago to change the K-12 Science curriculum. We should now!

5 - A few said that we have little chance of success in fighting the teacher’s unions.

a) Teachers’ unions have shown little resistance to curriculum reform.

b) On the other hand, teachers’ unions are VERY actively opposed to School Choice, so that’s an argument against focusing on that.

c) I.e., those who want to minimize conflict with teachers’ unions are supporting my argument that curriculum reform is far more important than School Choice.

6 - Some asked: why should the Science part be the initial focus?

a) The goal here is to materially improve the K-12 education system. To do that, the number one objective is to produce critically thinking graduates.

b) The Science curriculum is the primary area where critical thinking should be taught.

c) The Left is aggressively focused on the Science curriculum (e.g. Framework and NGSS). We need to counter that negative influence.

d) The answer to those who say that fixing the US education system is a very high mountain to climb, is to substantially reduce the size of the hill. Focusing on just one curriculum topic is a key way of doing that.

7 - A few people said that fixing the Science curriculum is not doable.

a) The Left changed the entire K-12 Science curriculum in 45± states in less than three years!

b) I am proposing a significantly smaller challenge than they took on: just upgrade part of the NGSS to NGISS (I = Improved).

c) With the full support of Heritage and other US Conservative organizations interested in the education issue, this is very doable.

d) Fixing a public or private school’s Science standards, means fixing the state’s Science standards. This is under the control of the State Board of Education (SBOE) which is 15± people. That can be done by one person (e.g., see here).

8 - Some said that the entire curriculum needs to be reformed, not just the Science part.

a) Yes, eventually all parts of the curriculum should be reviewed and updated — but again that is a VERY large assignment.

b) A much more practical goal is to focus on a narrow objective.

c) The Science curriculum is the most appropriate narrow focus, as 1) it is the best way to teach critical thinking, and 2) it is an opportunity to extract the Woke material currently embedded in it.

IMO a lack of understanding and effort on what the primary education issues are (and the best way to fix them) is a major reason that so little has been accomplished. While we argue over strategy, the Left is laser-focused on corrupting the K-12 education system (mainly through the Science curriculum), and is moving forward doing that.

So it is up to Heritage and other US Conservative organizations to decide: how much longer will they wait until they focus ALL their efforts on WHAT our children are taught (and not taught)? FYI, while they are meditating, every year some 3+ MILLION propagandized K-12 graduates are becoming new voting citizens. This is intolerable!

---

Here are other materials by this scientist that you might find interesting:

WiseEnergy.org: discusses the Science (or lack thereof) behind our energy options.

C19Science.info: covers the lack of genuine Science behind our COVID-19 policies.

Election-Integrity.info: multiple major reports on the election integrity issue.

Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2023 Archives. Send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time - but why would you?

Thanks for reading Critically Thinking About Select Societal Issues! Please pass a link to this article on to other associates who might benefit. They can subscribe for FREE to receive new posts (typically about once a week).