'Dumbest Generation Getting Dumber'

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparison of 15-year-olds conducted by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that measures applied learning and problem-solving ability. In 2006, U.S. students ranked 25th of 30 advanced nations in math and 24th in science. McKinsey & Company, in releasing its report "The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools" (April 2009) said, "Several other facts paint a worrisome picture. First, the longer American children are in school, the worse they perform compared to their international peers. In recent cross-country comparisons of fourth grade reading, math, and science, US students scored in the top quarter or top half of advanced nations. By age 15 these rankings drop to the bottom half. In other words, American students are farthest behind just as they are about to enter higher education or the workforce." That's a sobering thought. The longer kids are in school and the more money we spend on them, the further behind they get.

The great Walter Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University, effectively blows the whistle on the U.S. public school system and its gross failures. Read the entire article here.

School Choice--Charter Schools Chart Major Gains

During a recent debate with John McCain before the election, Barack Obama made the statement that he is against 'school choice' as a means to provide competition to failing public schools.

Instead, Obama pointed to D.C.'s Charter School program as a major success story.

McCain replied that the director of D.C.'s Charter Schools program supports the concept of school choice.

And why wouldn't he? Deciding to send one's children to a Charter School instead of a traditional public school is a choice parents make to improve the quality of education their children receive.

In California, for example, Charter Schools are outperforming traditional public schools among the state's poor.

Charter Schools are public schools that are run by independent nonprofit groups rather than the various state educational systems. These schools emphasize the basics of math and English and give the students all the tools necessary to succeed.

Public schools, by contrast, tend to view students in poor areas as victims. That very simple difference in perspective makes all the difference in how students perform. Children from poor families tend to have a strong, innate desire to succeed, despite commonly accepted educational dogma.

According to the California Charter Schools Association, 12 of the 15 top performing schools in the state that serve children in poverty are Charter Schools.

With the multiplicity of problems facing traditional public schools that seem to be failing the nation's poverty-stricken children, Charter Schools are one way to address those problems.

The Dumbed-Down Generation

As I contemplated the possibility that the Obama bandwagon could well steam-roll over all of us who cherish liberty, the thought occurred to me that this could be the culmination of years of hard work by those who have a vested interest in destroying America.

The 60s generation gave us school busing, lower standards in schools, safeguarding 'self-esteem' at all costs even if it means giving passing grades to those who can't read, and of course, Leftwing radicalism that called America evil and Communism/Socialism good.

Some among that generation never gave up their vision for a different kind of America where the Constitution is considered a relic of the past and where government is all-powerful.

After all, the Constitution was written by 'a bunch of old men who believed in slavery,' as Whoopie Goldberg stated during an interview with John McCain some time ago on that joke of a TV program, 'The View.'

This, of course, is meant to silence all defense of the Constitution out of the fear one may be tagged as a racist.

Whoopie, of course, failed to mention that this very Constitution FREED slaves. One cannot hold people who lived in the 18th century to 21st century concepts. But the principles espoused by those 'old men' in the 1700s led to slavery being outlawed in the 1800s. The principles themselves were so forward-looking that even the Founders didn't know all of the ways in which liberty could express itself.

In addition, many products of our public school system today seem to think that mass murderers like Che Guevara, Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro, and Chairman Mao are pretty cool guys. Communism and Socialism are accepted as good ideas. Nevermind that in each case where these ideologies gain a foothold, citizens are robbed of their rights and multi-millions are murdered by their own government.

Do most students in America today know this?

Absolutely not!

Even John Edwards, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama didn't know that the Second Amendment is a right, not a privilege. And each of these are lawyers!

By the way, why is it that not a single reporter in the media has asked Barack Obama why his campaign offices across the country have pictures of Cuban mass murderer Che Guevara hanging all over the walls? Guevara, of course, was one of Fidel Castro's hatchet men when he first came to power in Cuba, making sure the opposition was minimized by the systematic slaughter of ordinary citizens.

But of course, Fidel Castro is considered a pretty good guy by Obama supporters as well.

Yet the Obama-worshippers in the mainstream media think we who oppose Obama are an 'angry mob!'

This must be la-la land. What's good is called bad, and what's bad is called good.

Therefore, it is no wonder that in 2008 a large number of Americans are going to march into the polls like zombies and pull the lever for a radical, anti-American, neo-Communist who believes in infanticide and outlawing handguns in this country.

The social engineers of the 1960s planned this out from the beginning. You see, in order for revolution to occur, you don't need guns or violence. All you need is to take over the school system, dumb down the students by lowering standards, withhold information about the Constitution and the men who wrote it, brainwash them in the ways of Socialism/Communism, until one day in the future you have an entire generation of Americans who think it's absolutely splendid that a person with an ideology like Barack Obama runs for President.

That one day in the future is now.

11-Year-Old Black Boy Scarred For Life

Laurens, SC (TLS). An eleven-year-old African-American boy has been scarred for life in the fallout from a shocking teacher sex case that culminated today in Laurens, South Carolina.

Fifth-grade teacher Wendie Schweikert, a Caucasian, was sentenced to 15 years in prison plus 5 years' probation for engaging in criminal sexual activity with an 11-year-old Black student. The sexual activity took place right in Schweikert's own classroom.

Today during her sentencing a sobbing Schweikert apologized to the boy's family, her students, and the community for what she described as 'committing this horrible sin.' From the start Schweikert acknowledge that she had engaged in sexual activity with the boy and stated today in court that she 'was not herself' when she committed the acts.

The boy's parents spoke at the sentencing hearing today, and stated that their son had been scarred for life by what took place in Schweikert's classroom.

That is an understatement. Parents in this country are entitled to know that when they send their children to the nation's public schools they are not entrusting them into the care of sexual predators. Increasingly, parents have cause to worry. The Schweikert case is only one of many similar cases across the country.

The Judge who handed down Schweikert's sentence did not go easy on her, but neither did he give her the maximum under the law. She will be forced by law to serve 85% of her sentence in incarceration and then serve an extra five years' probation once released. She will also be registered as a sex offender.

We can take consolation in the fact that a sexual predator has been removed from the classroom, but our hearts go out to the victim and his parents who must live with the horror of what took place in that classroom for the rest of their lives.

2 Plus 2 Equals 5--Says 'Reform Math'

Washington, DC (TLS). Throw out all you know about exact science, precise mathematical calculations, and right and wrong answers. In 'Reform' math, all you need is an 'approximation' rather than a precisely correct answer.

Thus, 2 plus 2 DOES, in fact, equal 5, approximately speaking.

This balderdash is what your kids and grand-kids are being taught in public schools across the nation. And some parents are up in arms.

Some are even taking matters into their own hands after being mortified by the shocking lack of knowledge their children exhibit concerning basic mathematical equations. More than a few parents are charging that the Reform Math is causing their children to miss the boat on tests and college entrance exams.

No wonder the United States continues to lag behind other industrialized nations in math and science skills.

Apparently the government-run public school system continues to fail our nation's youth by dumbing down the requirements and skills needed to function in the real world. When I go to the local restaurant, I don't want the cashier giving me 'approximately' the correct change. Nor do I wish for the government's confiscation program otherwise known as the IRS to shortchange my refund as long as they can claim it was 'approximately close' to what they owe me.

Unless this nation begins to mandate certain basic skills that ALL school children must learn in order to graduate, then I am afraid that with super-powers like China looming on the scene, whose citizens run circles around Americans in math and science, the U.S. is headed for the ash-heap of irrelevance on the world stage.

U.S. Judge Calls Homeschoolers 'Child-Abusers'!

Charlotte, NC (TLS). A Superior Court Judge in New Jersey has stated in open court that homeschooling a child is tantamount to child abuse!

Here we go again.

Where do these idiots come from?

Someone needs to tell the good 'Judge' that in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA the government does not have control over children. The PARENTS do. And that means we can jolly well homeschool our kids if we want to.

What about the abusive PUBLIC school system where kids and teachers are in danger of being killed by teenagers, where sex between 12-year-olds happens in class, where drug abuse is rampant, and where values such as pledging allegiance to the flag are frowned upon?

Add this 'Judge' to the other thugs who are ruining our nation's judicial system.

Maybe we could charge him with a 'hate crime' for denigrating people who homeschool for no good reason at all, except for his obvious hatred for them.

Here is the complete story:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54624