{"id":1507302,"date":"2022-06-08T08:05:02","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T12:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1507302"},"modified":"2022-06-08T08:05:10","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T12:05:10","slug":"the-public-education-swamp-refuses-to-learn-anything-from-a-year-of-embarrassing-failures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-public-education-swamp-refuses-to-learn-anything-from-a-year-of-embarrassing-failures\/","title":{"rendered":"The Public Education Swamp Refuses To Learn Anything From A Year Of Embarrassing Failures"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-public-education-swamp-refuses-to-learn-anything-from-a-year-of-embarrassing-failures%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1507302&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/school-bus-1463648382Znw.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The 2021-2022 school year is coming to a close.\u00a0As usual, students, parents, teachers, and administrators are looking over the past year to see what worked, what didn\u2019t, and how to improve.<\/p>\n<p>This year, the educational establishment\u2019s report card is even worse than usual. It has failed to address the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2022376118\">learning losses<\/a> due to unnecessary Covid lockdowns and inspired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/news\/local\/2021\/07\/13\/franklin-county-school-board-meeting-sparks-heated-debate-over-transgender-student-policies-critical-race-theory\/\">parental uproar<\/a> over critical race theory and LGBT advocacy in the classroom. It has suffered a surprising <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/joe-biden-education-parental-rights-school-curricula-604edece27a483155c409187f258a058\">electoral defeat<\/a> in Virginia and a not-so-surprising <a href=\"https:\/\/flgov.com\/2022\/03\/28\/governor-ron-desantis-signs-historic-bill-to-protect-parental-rights-in-education\/\">legislative setback<\/a> in Florida, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/School_board_recalls\">an unprecedented number<\/a> of school board recall elections.\u00a0Most damaging of all, close to 2 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/02\/21\/nearly-2-million-kids-left-public-schools-from-2020-to-2021\/\">million<\/a> students have <a href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/whatsnew\/press_releases\/06_28_2021.asp\">abandoned<\/a> government schooling for greener (not to mention <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/05\/25\/tragedies-like-the-texas-shooting-make-a-somber-case-for-homeschooling\/\">safer<\/a>) pastures.<\/p>\n<p>Faced with such massive public losses, one might think a little self-reflection would be in order.\u00a0Instead, the educrats, with the help of their friends in the legacy media, have decided to address these serious problems by gaslighting the American public.<\/p>\n<h2>Avoiding Accountability at All Costs<\/h2>\n<p>The most recent example of this deception comes from the continuing saga of the National School Boards Association\u2019s (NSBA) effort last fall to smear parents who complain at school board meetings as \u201cdomestic terrorists.\u201d The now <a href=\"https:\/\/defendinged.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Letter.pdf\">infamous letter<\/a> and even more <a href=\"https:\/\/defendinged.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Memo.pdf\">infamous Department of Justice memo<\/a> that followed it represent the depths to which the educational establishment was willing to sink to protect itself from accountability to the families it theoretically serves.<\/p>\n<p>A recently completed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsba.org\/News\/2022\/independent-review\">independent review<\/a> exonerated the NSBA\u2019s board from culpability in this fiasco, fixing the blame for \u201cboth the \u2018origin and substance of the letter\u2019\u201d on former Interim Director and CEO Chip Slaven. The review also found that while unnamed members of the Biden administration \u201ccollaborated\u201d with Slaven, it \u201cdid not find direct or indirect evidence suggesting the administration requested the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to \u201cclear the record,\u201d Slaven recorded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/man-behind-infamous-nsba-letter-says-organization-backstabbed-him\">an interview<\/a> last week with Fox News Digital, where he whined about being \u201cbetrayed\u201d and \u201ccompletely backstabbed\u201d by the organization that he led.\u00a0He also admitted that he disagreed with the NSBA board\u2019s futile efforts to walk back the language of the letter, claiming that \u201cit drenched an already inflamed and out-of-control narrative with another helping of gasoline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neither Slaven nor the NSBA\u2019s announcement bothered to address the elephant in the room: that the organization sees engaged parents and community members who attend school board meetings as potential threats that need to be watched and possibly prosecuted by federal authorities. When pressed about this during the interview, Slaven lamely defended the substance of the letter he penned by saying, \u201cThe word \u2018parents\u2019 is not in the letter anywhere,\u201d despite the examples cited in the letter\u2019s footnotes. <\/p>\n<p>The NSBA has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsba.org\/News\/2022\/independent-review\">offered<\/a> vague platitudes about \u201cadvocat[ing] for local control\u201d and being \u201ccommitted to parent engagement\u201d as it pursues its \u201cnonpartisan\u201d goals. These attempts to rewrite history come as 25 state school boards <a href=\"https:\/\/defendinged.org\/press-releases\/state-school-board-associations-responses-to-the-nsba-letter\/\">have chosen<\/a> \u201cto withdraw membership, participation, or dues from NSBA.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, an FBI whistleblower <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/fbi-whistleblower-claims-doj-used-counterterrorism-tools-against-parents-in-response-to-school-board-memo\/\">has claimed<\/a> that \u201ccounterterrorism tools\u201d were indeed used against parents in accordance with the DOJ\u2019s memo.\u00a0It remains unclear whether these efforts continue presently despite the NSBA\u2019s repudiation of the letter and its alleged author.<\/p>\n<h2>Legacy Media Provide Covering Fire<\/h2>\n<p>Of course, the left-wing corporate media have gone all in to support educrats\u2019 efforts to deceive the public into believing they remain the valiant heroes in this ongoing drama. Lately, they\u2019ve decided to focus their attacks on a favorite target of the left: homeschooling families. <\/p>\n<p>This is hardly surprising, as the number of these families at least doubled during the lockdowns of 2020-2021. What\u2019s more, that number has been <a href=\"https:\/\/hslda.org\/post\/homeschool-surge-still-going-strong\">largely maintained<\/a> despite schools re-opening in the fall of 2021.<\/p>\n<p>On Mother\u2019s Day, Keith Olbermann fired an opening salvo in this new campaign against educational choice when he <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KeithOlbermann\/status\/1523407754504798209\">tweeted<\/a> that a homeschooling mom was \u201cruin[ing] the lives of five innocent children.\u201d Not to be outdone, MSNBC columnist Anthea Butler initiated a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/opinion\/msnbc-opinion\/schools-are-under-attack-america-s-religious-right-n1295340\">preemptive strike<\/a> against Kirk Cameron\u2019s upcoming documentary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fathomevents.com\/events\/Kirk-Cameron-Presents-The-Homeschool-Awakening\">\u201cThe Homeschool Awakening\u201d<\/a> by disingenuously linking homeschooling not just with conservative Christianity, but also with the \u201csegregation academies\u201d of the post-<em>Brown v. Board of Education <\/em>South.<\/p>\n<p>After grudgingly admitting the recent increase in homeschooling \u201cmay [in part] be attributed to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2021\/06\/21\/the-rise-of-black-homeschooling\">Black parents<\/a>\u00a0and other\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/hechingerreport.org\/the-new-homeschoolers-more-diverse-just-as-committed\/\">diverse groups<\/a>\u201d who might not otherwise dare to disagree with her leftist party line, Butler ended her hatchet job with a dire warning:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Homeschooling may have greater appeal now because of these debates and the desire for parents to play a big part in their children\u2019s educational life. It may also arise out of pandemic concerns, but parents unfamiliar with the existing networks of homeschooling run the danger of being drawn into Christian conservative networks and theocratic teaching. [Cameron] says that people choosing homeschooling are having an awakening, but the public needs to awaken to the reality that public schools may disappear if people with his extreme beliefs have their way.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The left\u2019s message to parents is loud and clear: Exercise your right to homeschool your kids and you are complicit in the cold-blooded murder of public schooling.<\/p>\n<h2>Institutional Suicide<\/h2>\n<p>In these efforts, Slaven, Olbermann, Butler, and their comrades studiously deflect from the simple truth: If American government-run schools are dying, it is not a case of murder, but of suicide.<\/p>\n<p>The self-inflicted wounds keep coming despite all the warning signs of the past academic year. Last month, the school district in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wafb.com\/2022\/05\/16\/middle-schoolers-accused-sexual-harassment-not-using-preferred-pronouns-parents-say\/\">Kiel, Wis.<\/a>, accused three middle schoolers of sexual harassment for failing to refer to another student by her chosen pronouns. What parent wants to go through that as a consequence of sending his kids to public schools?<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in Virginia, Fairfax County Public Schools is planning to <a href=\"https:\/\/wjla.com\/news\/crisis-in-the-classroom\/fairfax-county-school-board-trasngender-misgendering-gender-expansive-students-parents-virginia-schools-malicious-deadnaming\">adopt a policy<\/a> to suspend or even expel students who \u201cmaliciously misgender\u201d classmates.\u00a0The vote, originally scheduled for May 26, has been suspiciously delayed until June 16, perhaps so the happy chaos of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcps.edu\/calendars\/standard-school-year-calendar\/2022-23-school-year-calendar\">the last day of school<\/a> will allow the board to avoid further public scrutiny and outrage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As kids across the nation start their summer vacations, the battle for their minds and souls rages on.\u00a0True to form, the educational establishment fights dirty, using cheap manipulation tactics to distract the public from its pursuit of ideological \u201cbusiness as usual.\u201d <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Robert Busek is a Catholic homeschooling father of six who has taught history and Western Civilization in both traditional and online classrooms for over twenty years. His essays have also been published in The American Conservative and The American Spectator. The views he expresses here are his own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2021-2022 school year is coming to a close.\u00a0As usual, students, parents, teachers, and administrators are looking over the past year to see what worked, what didn\u2019t, and how to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":793,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1507302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/793"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1507302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1507302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1507302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1507302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}