My concern rests with what are the plans for Barack Obama's education? I also had concerns prior presidents who have sought to change local education via the Office of the President. In the first place, education in America was seen by our forefathers as resting in the hands of the parents and in the communities within which people lived. According to the Constitution, Education rests with the individual States. While the United States is a melting pot of people of many origins, the U.S. was not meant to be a place where everyone becomes an "automitron."
Education has been the responsibility of parents and communities. As public education was established, each community determine minimum levels of education, the courses, and the scope education for the children in their specific community. And from this uniqueness, the needs of community and society were met. Eventually, the various states expanded their role and responsibility hopefully to assure equal and adequate education within communities although some states went far beyond even that role. Historically, education required instructions and discussions in classrooms that also recalled the sacrifice of our ancestors and the freedoms that we inherited from their efforts.
With the the Carter administration and the establishment of the Dept of Education, the federal government greatly affected the community education decisions primarily through federal grants. Since the formation of Dept of Ed., history textbooks have been rewritten and fail to present students their great heritage of freedom and liberty which affords them the opportunity to make personal choices and to succeed or fail based on their own merits. The federal government involvement reduced the influence of home and religion in schools. Students have been indoctrinated into a philosophy of no moral absolutes (no right or wrong) and presented the most negative history of America with its the flaws and failures without balancing it with the its overriding sacrifice and success.
Today's, young people are in danger of relying for answers on an educational system controlled by a central government - and potentially one person, the president. Again, as the PDK/Gallup Poll indicated, people and parent were willing to lend their support for President Barack Obama's education plans. President Abraham Lincoln understood the threat and warned "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." I believe President Obama and others know this quote as well. So, what is the philosophy in today's school room? And, what is the Federal government doing or planning to do to influencing the local classroom instruction?
Why did the PDK/Gallup Poll even ask such a question? One would surmise that educators had noted this shift in education created by the influence of the federal government. With respect to the poll, one wonders what were the considered Obama educational plans? We they more than "hope and change"? Although a myriad of other potential question exist, the elephant in education is the question: where in the Constitution of the United States is the authority for a President to decide the educational plans for America, for States, for community, for parents and for "the children"?
History shows what happens when person becomes a supreme despot and determines among other things the plans for the education (indoctrination and control) of the children in a nation. And before someone gets carried away, I am not calling President Obama a despot.
Intellectually, many questions could and should be asked relative to the shift in American society which resulted in the results reflected by the poll. But due to limited space of a short article, I will stipulate the point made by the poll that there is a willingness by parents and teachers polled to support the education plans of President Barack Obama for America which would affect their and our children and generations to come.
Recently, the public has become aware of parents and adults at educational institutions, supported by their peers and academic supervisors until publicly embarrassed, who used children in efforts to express forms of adoration for President Obama. While the children are innocent and in fact quite talented, these situations identify forms of indoctrination which raise a red flag especially when bumped against the PDK Gallup Poll result. Where do we go from here? Do we need to be truly concerned? Should the President of the United States or members of the Dept. of Education or the various "czars" be controlling the community education of our children and grandchildren? And, what harm could happen if they did? All these questions require reflection and serious consideration.
To stop right now, kind of leads our minds hanging. So, let's take focus and consider the recent incidents and also reflect on a dark time in history when one nation's leader and his staff controlled the education of the children. You may wish to save the following videos. The first two videos are recent situations when children were used. The remaining five are rare classics detailing the indoctrination of children in Germany prior to WWII:
Dr. Bill Smith is a retired military officer and retired university professor. He has authored published articles and writes online articles for numerous sites. He has earned two degrees in business and a Ph.D. is in Education and post doctoral work in workforce education, training and development. He is a senior member of *Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) and a Fellow with the National Contract Management Association.
Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Smith, education, Gallup Poll, US Constitution To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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