Marc Abear: Parents have had enough of school districts indoctrinating

To The Daily Sun,

We are approaching “go back to school” time. Many parents have made decisions about their child’s education that puts them on different paths. These decisions impact public education. But parents are not good with school districts indoctrinating more than educating.

Drag queens in kindergarten, forcing preferred pronoun use, boys saying they are transgender to use girls locker rooms and showers, pandemic masking. These things are convincing parents: Homeschooling works better. There are other alternatives; parents and teachers are leaving public schools.

The Washington Post reports: “The teacher shortage in America has hit crisis levels — and school officials everywhere are scrambling to ensure that, as students return to classrooms, someone will be there to educate them.” Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association said, “I have never seen it this bad.”

We have a public school system where more than half of students can’t even read proficiently. The pandemic exacerbated the literacy crisis. Why are schools diverting time and resources to controversial non-academic subjects? Parents are tired of it. There are no do-overs when it comes to our children’s education.

U.S. students continue to lag behind other countries in reading, math, and science. But we are number 1 in money wasted. Nationwide we average $16,268 per student annually. Locally we are close to double that. Globally the average is $10,759. Parents have a right to ask if the cost equals the benefit. It's our tax money.

There is a proliferation of private schools. Resources are more readily available for homeschooling. School choice is growing. There has long been a need of reform, or burial. We may be watching the end of an aging monopoly. Is the protection from the intellectual and moral infection of children to remove them from public schools?

Marc Abear

Meredith