The Choice Channel

The American future is going to be very different from its past. Our children and grandchildren will live in a world in which originality, creativity, and meticulous workmanship are prized. Thoughtless assembly-line tasks will be done by robots. People who adapt to new circumstances and tools will thrive. People who choose not to change may find life is more challenging.

We all want a bright, happy life for future generations. How can we best help our children?

Read the rest of this entry »

History, as we all know, has constantly and consistently repeated itself throughout the centuries of mankind. Many would say that our “leaders” usually fail to heed its warnings. Or do they? I believe it is at least possible if not probable that our policy and law makers have not only learned from history, and have not only understood the failures of the past, but have now learned how to succeed where there was once failure.

From the Pharaohs of Egypt to the Roman Empire, and from Stalin to today, governments have sought to enslave those under its rule. Sometimes using obvious despotism such as Hitler’s Concentration Camps, other times utilizing the subtle tyranny of political correctness we face today, governments have effectively used these and other tactics in search of the Omnipotent State. In America today, the most dangerous vehicle used for this quest is the government education system.

Read the rest of this entry »

It is difficult to read a newspaper, listen to the radio, or watch TV news without hearing somebody tell us that our schools are badly under-funded. For the moment, the State will be satisfied with a $160 million tax increase, but indications are that they will soon pursue a $1.4 billion tax increase in order to “make schools adequate.” School systems around the state are also seeking local tax increases to bolster their budgets.

We are told that schools need the money because buildings are in disrepair, students don’t have textbooks, teachers are underpaid, and some schools have to request donations so that students will have toilet paper to use. Their focus is on educating kids, they claim, and that’s where most of the money is spent, but they need more to do a decent job.

Read the rest of this entry »

In school reform, the chasm between establishment advice and what the data show keeps on growing. In exchange for a “Performance Promise,” voters approved a $20 million bond issue for Jefferson County Public Schools to be used on projects that, according to the District’s web site, “have been proven to increase student achievement - smaller classes, classroom coaches, staff development, extended learning and individualized attention.”

But contrary to Jeffco’s claims, reducing teacher workloads does not improve student achievement. Between 1950 and 1994, the pupil-teacher ratio in American schools fell by 35%. Student achievement deteriorated. The achievement decline is not explained by changes in family structure, poverty, special education, or increasing numbers of immigrants. Some studies suggest that class size reductions may result in small achievement gains in special situations. In general, however, the more thorough the study, the more likely it is to find that class size reductions produce no gains in student achievement.

Read the rest of this entry »

The poor performance of America’s schools is front and center on just about every politician’s agenda. And whenever there are politicians involved, there is always demagoguery. The solution for almost all of them is throwing more government money at it. Of course, all money comes with strings attached and with government, you can be sure that the strings will result in accomplishing precisely the opposite of what it’s supposed to.

Read the rest of this entry »

As a high school teacher, I face many challenges. I see them as challenges anyway. Too many kids in a class, very outdated textbooks, not enough equipment to teach properly, etc…. Each day I try to get along with what I have. Therefore, it makes me crazy when the state, in its infinite “wisdom,” deliberately throws roadblocks up in front of learning. Instead of teaching each semester at a pace that suits the class I must try to guess what the state might expect. That’s right, at the end of each vocational course we must give a state-written standardized test.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the first, and only positive, things that happened to me when I moved across country from Tennessee to California was encountering a History teacher who will always go down in my memory as the best. He displayed everything we hope and pray a teacher will be…disciplinarian, scholar, friend but, most of all, teacher. He had a new idea every month to engage the minds and energy of adolescents that kept us on his side and striving to not only please him but also challenge him. He loved a good fight!

Read the rest of this entry »

They are everywhere from football fields to hospitals. Throughout history from the legions of Rome to the doughboys of World War I they can be found. They can be found in all sorts of sizes, shapes and colors. What are they? Uniforms. Inherently there is nothing wrong with uniforms. They help define and unify a group of people. They give people a sense of belonging. A uniform can help you identify a store employee for help.

Yet, for all their usefulness there is a darker side to uniforms. They can be used to steal liberty. Recently I was watching the evening news I became appalled to see that a school district in the city of Scranton Pennsylvania is requiring their students to wear uniforms. What’s inherently wrong with that, you ask? I see a dangerous precedent on four levels.

Read the rest of this entry »

When you enter a private school, both you and your parents are required to sign paperwork indicating that you have read the college or university handbook, understand it, and will abide by it. These documents are contracts; they are the rules that govern your relationships and rights at your private institution. The law of contracts forms the oldest branch of the law relating to transactions. In one form or another, it has existed from the beginning of organized and primitive societies. Just as the safety of persons and/or property depends upon the rule of criminal law, the security and stability of the business world is dependent upon the law of contracts. The law of contracts is one of the main structural supports with the right to acquire and dispose of property. A contract in the modern sense has been defined as “an agreement containing a promise enforceable in law.”

Read the rest of this entry »

President Bush was riding high several years ago when he decided it was time to improve America’s public school systems. He rolled out his administration’s No Child Left Behind Act and all the people rejoiced. Finally! Finally the federal government was going to do something about failing public schools in America. Great promises were made of improvements and innovations. Legislation was enacted and more regulations were created. Enforcement was to be strict for the standards set for testing and teacher qualification. All of this was “for the children.” Even the name of the legislation itself declares that no child will be left behind in America’s schools. How is it then that four years after President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act, nearly two million students’ test scores are not counted toward progress reports of their racial groups; and, almost eighteen hundred schools across the country fall short of the federal guidelines? You do not have to be a college professor to figure out that some children are still being left behind.

Read the rest of this entry »