The Purpose of Public Schools

With all of the foaming and frothing at the mouth Neo-Con crybabies are currently doing over the President’s back to school speech, I’m about ready to bitch slap someone.   Not only are they showing the kind of disrespect they would have cried bloody murder over had the President been a Republican, but they seem to lack any sort of about understanding about the purpose of public schools.  I think it is time we re-examine that purpose.

First off, public schools carry the title “public school” because they were opened to support public interests.  They exist to teach what is in the public’s best interest, not whatever some parents want them to teach.  If they choose to air President Obama‘s speech or any other speech, then it is because the powers that be believe it is in the interest of the public good.  Intentionally pulling your children away from school because of your politics or alleged morals should constitute a crime and probably does in many places (interfering with operations of a public agency or neglect in one form or another). If you don’t want your kids to hear this message home school them.  If that notion doesn’t fit your schedule, too fucking bad! Public schools are educational institutions not baby sitters that parents can dictate terms to.

So you think you have a right to pull your kids any time you want to for any reason, listen up you don’t.  Schooling is compulsory in every state (up until a certain age) in either a public, private, or home schooling environment.  If you don’t agree with what is being taught you have the right to change the setting of your child’s learning, but you do not have a legal right to disrupt their education on a whim.  Despite a long standing custom in many districts to allow parents to dictate what information a child receives, you once again have no legal right to do this and it is long past time that school districts tell parents who make this or that demand to go fuck themselves.  Excluding kids from a presidential speech, health related subjects, or science classes makes about as much sense allowing a parent to exclude a student from math and science classes because she is a girl and won’t need those subjects in order to make babies, or to take it a step further to keep your boy from reading poetry or taking music class because it might make them gay. Stop the stupidity.

I say again public schools are there to teach what is in the best interest of the public.  If you disagree with what is being taught either for moral or political reasons, then you have two legitimate options as a parent, take them out of public school permanently or discuss your own beliefs with them before and afterward.  Surely your reasons for disagreeing with whatever is being taught aren’t so thinly veiled in nonsense that they can’t stand up to discussion. (or are they?) It doesn’t matter what the subject is, public schools are charged with the task of presenting generally accepted facts and content that will further the communities interests.  The task of a parent, whether they disagree with the information presented or not, is twofold.  First, they must do everything in their power to make sure their kids can pass the tests on the presented information, thereby getting good grades and all that other happy horseshit that means they will go to good colleges, get good jobs and live happily ever after.  Secondly, parents are tasked to explain their disagreements with any presented information and pass along the values as they see believe in.  If you want your kids to hate and fear Barack Obama as you do, then listen to the speech and tell them what was wrong with it and why he will destroy everything you believe in.  If don’t want them to have sex tell them why you feel that way rather than keeping them from knowledge that can keep them from getting knocked up or catching a disease when they finally decide to disobey you.  If you want them to believe in your creation story of choice rather than supported science teach them about your religion and how faith lets them accept both your ideology and the information society believes they should know.  Do not do a disservice to your kids by keeping them from either the education they receive at school or the education you should be taking the time to impart.

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