Should parents put their children into the current U.S. Public School System?
Here is a sample current real-world situation.
The vast majority of parents of US K-12 age kids do not have a real choice as to how to educate their children. They do not have the money for a private school, and/or they do not have the time to homeschool, and/or they do not have the competence to homeschool, etc.
Many people are of the mistaken idea that most of the K-12 education issues are the fault of the Department of Education (DOEd). That is a MAJOR misunderstanding, as at least 95% of the issues are due to States or local school boards. Case in point, here are a few very recent school board developments at Fairfax County, Virginia, in chronological order:
In 12/24, there was this: Court Rules Fairfax County Public School’s Pronoun and Bathroom Policies Violate Students’ Constitutional Rights.
Shortly after, the Federalist had this good article about the Fairfax situation.
Subsequently, the Defending Education website lists Fairfax County School Board as one of the top ten worst school boards in the US.
Department of Education to investigate Northern Virginia schools over transgender protections. (Note that this indicates that DOEd is on the side of the parents, against the school board and the State of Virginia.)
Fairfax Mom Confronts School Board For Elementary School Gender Studies. The quandary she and her husband are dealing with is where to send their two sons to school. [Note: despite how her name is spelled on the video, it is actually Caleigh Weichbrodt. Go figure…]
Fairfax School Board removes even the pretense of parent participation.
U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Launches Title VI Investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools. (Note this again says that DOEd is on the side of the parents, against the school board and the State of Virginia.)
Kudos to Caleigh!
But There’s More, MUCH More —
That said, arguing against gender indoctrination is only the tip of the iceberg — i.e., it is literally only about 1% of the current K-12 curriculum problems.
Where are the parents who are publicly objecting to the fact that our children are being taught that there is no God (atheism)?
Where are the parents who are strenuously objecting that our children are being taught to reject Judeo-Christian moral standards (relativism)?
Where are the parents who are aware of and resist that our children are being taught to be entitled (in multiple ways, like grade-inflation)?
Where are the parents who are aggressively opposing the fact that our children are being taught to be anti-American (e.g., in history)?
Where are the parents who are vigorously against our children being taught political science instead of Real Science?
[As fate would have it, this good article just appeared today. This is a tiny part of the misinformation that appears in State-approved textbooks, across the country. Carefully reading through your kids' textbooks is a good way to get an idea of what misinformation they are being taught.]
And arguably most importantly, where are the parents who are intensely objecting to the reality that our children are specifically being taught not to be Critical Thinkers (especially in science)?
The Bottom Line —
All these — and more — are empirical evidence of: 1) how poorly States are doing in operating our K-12 education system, and 2) why keeping and reforming the DOEd is in our best interest. For fifteen (15) reasons, see here.
Scrubbing DOEd and giving more K-12 education money and power to States like Virginia and school boards like Fairfax County’s is beyond absurd.
Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:
I am now offering incentives for you to sign up new subscribers!
I also consider reader submissions on Critical Thinking on my topics of interest.
Check out the Archives of this Critical Thinking substack.
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 2025 Archives. Please 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).
If they can afford to do otherwise, it would seem charter. private schools or home schooling would be top choice. for parents. My brother lives in rural Maine and swears his two boys are being educated "to code" by the rural school system they attend. He approves of what's going on there, "no hanky panky", in his words. I do think rural schools tend to be far more anchored in old school ways, old school ethics, values and common sense. On another note, what prevents the next administration from turning the DOE back into an unending drag queen story hour? It's tough growing up and going through puberty. These are the toughest years of all. What we're doing to our children with this bombardment of sexual chaos, climate change end of the world scenarios and anti-American "history" lessons is inhumane.
I have not finished reading the detailed contents of your analysis. But I think you may have missed a huge background story about the evil influence of the Department of Education.
Why suddenly are the local school districts full of evil teachers whose main focus is to indoctrinate children with horrific ideologies? It has a lot to do with the secret federal grants from the DOE to the district superintendents, schoolmasters and teachers. The first huge money wave was released from the COVID funding granted by the Congress. The amount was so huge that the DOE cannot used it all at the end of 2024.
The grants are completely clandestine for the takers who enthusiastically embrace the Biden administration’s evil agenda. But some brave patriots in Tennessee has revealed the secret fact, yet nobody in the media follow up with investigations.