The fatal mistake of minority (and white) parents

In a recent online article in the Christian Science Monitor, “Racially Diverse ‘New Majority’ Set To Reshape U.S. Public Schools,” (April 15,2016), we see once again the fatal mistake made by minority parents.

The article points out that for the first time in U.S. history, non-white children will be the majority in our public schools. The frustrated parents of these children want to shape the public schools to address their concerns about the ongoing failure of these schools to give their children a decent education. For example, these parents complain that, as usual, their schools get less funding than ‘white’ schools, and that teachers in their schools are less experienced or competent than in the ‘white’ schools.

These parents are correct. Public schools are usually funded from local real-estate and/or income taxes. Therefore, if Black and Latino parents typically earn less than white parents and live in poorer neighborhoods, there is less funding for these schools. Also, many white teachers prefer to teach in white neighborhoods to avoid the drugs and violence in minority areas. Teachers are usually given preference on where they want to teach based on seniority. Therefore, many older, more experienced teachers typically choose to teach in more ‘white’, middle-income, or higher-income “safe” neighborhoods.

This problem will never go away, and minority children will be doomed to a third-rate miserable education because the system is rigged against them. When I say the ‘system’, I don’t mean the favoritism given to schools in white areas. I mean the whole government-controlled public-school system. These schools, especially in Black and Latino neighborhoods, will never improve, precisely because these schools are government-run monopolies.

Public schools are “supported” and “kept in business” through compulsory school taxes, not the voluntary tuition payments of parents, as private schools are. No matter how bad these public schools are, they stay in “business,” year after miserable year, because compulsory real-estate taxes and income taxes keep them afloat. Also, no matter how bad the teachers are, it’s almost impossible to fire them, because the teachers typically get tenure after working in the system for three years.

Therefore, there is no competition that forces these schools to improve, or go out of business. Because there is no competition, and because parents have no choice about how their kids are educated, these schools and teachers are utterly immune from parents’ anger and frustration.

In contrast, in a private school, if most parents are disgusted with the poor quality of the education and teachers in that school, they will take their children out of that school and find a better private school. The owner of the inferior private school will then go bankrupt, because his customers (the parents) have voted with their feet and their consumer dollars. That is why private schools typically give a far superior education than public schools. Each private-school owner is a businessman whose very survival depends on giving his customers, the parents, a quality education for their children. A private-school owner must prove to parents that his school is better than his competitors, or face going out of business and going bankrupt.

However, with government-run public schools, both parents and their children are literally prisoners of the education system. They have no choice in the school’s teachers, curriculum, or teaching methods. They have no real voice or economic power to change anything, because the schools and their teachers are paid by the city or state with compulsory tax dollars, not by parents voluntary tuition payments. That is why these education nightmares called public schools can fail year after year for the last fifty years, and parents remain helpless to change anything.

Moreover, even when a city or state gives minority-area public schools more money, the children still get a third-rate incompetent education. Tax-funded payments per pupil in most public schools have tripled over the last 50 years, yet our childrens’ reading and math skills, if anything, have deteriorated. This applies to both white and non-white neighborhood schools.

That is because not only are these public schools a typically-incompetent government-run monopoly, but the teaching methods in these schools are literally guaranteed to turn your children into illiterates. For example, most public schools have abandoned teaching children to read with the strict phonics method, many years ago. Instead, they “teach” children to “read” using what’s called the “look-see” or “balanced-literacy” method.

In this reading method, the child is asked to “memorize” the word based on recognizing a picture associated with the word, rather than using the phonetic sounds of the alphabet letters to sound out the word. No amount of money given to a public school will improve your child’s ability to read if public schools use this insane teaching method.

Parents, you will never get a decent education for your child in a government-controlled public school, precisely because these schools can thumb their nose at you and your anger over their incompetence. The school administrators and teachers get paid by the city or state, no matter how bad they are, and the government-enforced education monopoly has little competition.

Why do you think all the products you buy today, from cars to smart phones, keep improving in quality? It is because of fierce competition between the manufacturers of these products. For example, Apple and Samsung continually improve their smart phones to convince you to buy their phones vs their competor’s phone. Competition in the free market is the driving force that gives you fresh food, smart phones, electricity, cars, airplanes, and every other magical product we use in our modern world.

In contrast, the public schools are a monopoly-controlled education dinosaur. Walk into most public schools today, especially in minority areas, and it’s like walking back into a time-warp from 50 years ago. These education dinosaurs stagnate year after year, and will never give your child the quality education they could get in a fiercely-competitive free-market education system.

Parents, ask yourself this question: if your local supermarket sold rotten or poisonous food, would you feed your children this food, year after year? Would you continue to shop at this supermarket, or would you immediately look for a better store where they offer quality food at a reasonable price? With all the products you buy for yourself and your children every day, such as food, clothing, toys, smart phones, cars, etc, don’t you always chose the best for yourself and your children based on the money you can afford? Then why do you settle for a rotten education for your children from a government-controlled monopoly called public schools?

Parents, you are literally knocking your head against an education brick wall if you think these public schools will ever improve. If you love your children, I suggest you think outside the box. I suggest you walk around this brick wall. Walk away from these government education prisons that can ruin your child’s education and life.

Do you think you are stuck with this system, and there are no alternatives? Most parents, especially minority parents, are not aware that there are now many low-cost education alternatives you can take advantage of to give your child a great education.

You do not have to settle for a miserable government-school “education” for your precious children.

These alternatives include low-cost, K-12 internet private schools. These are real, accredited, quality private schools that can give your child a great education in the safety of your home, through the internet. In my book, “Public Schools, Public Menace,” I describe at least 23 ways you can give your child a great, low-cost education without public schools, even if you are a working parent. Parents, please, for your children’s sake, investigate these great education alternatives for your kids. Please read my book, “Public Schools, Public Menace.”