OPINION

Education Freedom Is the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time

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"Education is free. Freedom of education shall be enjoyed under the condition fixed by law and under the supreme control of the state." – Karl Marx

"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation." – Adolph Hitler

 “I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions. I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.” – Democrat candidate for Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe

Perhaps you remember the song "Teach the Children" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. In the perspective of the progressive socialist left the word 'teach' is replaced with 'indoctrinate'. I find it interesting that the first person to introduce the idea of state control of education was one Karl Marx. With the rise of power of the leftist teachers’ unions we are witnessing the manifestation of one of Marx's fundamental planks as written in his book, The Communist Manifesto.

Our children are being forcibly indoctrinated in the philosophy of cultural Marxism masquerading under the title of Critical Race Theory. It appears that the current Supreme Court nominee, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson lied about her knowledge and understanding of Critical Race Theory (CRT) at the school for which she serves as a Board of Trustee, Georgetown Day School. I tend to believe that such would disqualify her from being considered for a position on the highest court in the country. No, not her support of CRT, but lying about it.

We are watching history being redefined by the progressive socialist left, such as America was not founded on July 4th 1776, but rather in 1619. How could such an absurd assertion be taken seriously, certainly be allowed to have any credence in the realm of academic study?

I reside in Texas, and one would think that the education system would be great here, but that is not the case. Texas ranks near the bottom of education in America. In Texas nearly 67% of 4th graders cannot read at grade level.  

Instead, kids in Texas, such as in the Austin Independent School District (ISD) are having LGBTQI+ (I think I got all the letters right) pride celebrations and parades along with instruction. As well, the kids are being told they should not share this with their parents, which harkens back to Terry McAuliffe's comment.

Just recently we had two major universities in Texas, University of Texas and Texas A&M University have their faculty senate vote overwhelmingly, to "teach" Critical Race Theory on their campuses. In essence, the faculty has decided to proliferate cultural Marxism on a state funded college campus. 

At the University of North Texas, a father who is fighting to protect his young son from being transitioned by way of puberty blockers and hormonal therapies was shouted down and cursed at by leftist students. I actually thought a college campus was a place for diversity of opinions for the purpose of furthering education. 

As well, in Texas, and all over America, parents are finding very questionable, highly sexual, books in school libraries. When parents step in to protect their children, leftists call them "extremists" or even “domestic terrorists.” Perhaps the best unintended consequence of the COVID shutdowns was that parents finally saw what was happening in our schools, and they were appalled.  The movement to empower parents and protect children is growing, as can be seen by the attention around the movie “The Mind Polluters.”  

Leftist elected officials and the teachers’ unions are allowing children to be abused by this indoctrination even as they insist on insidious masking mandates that further stunt their social development.

We must reassert educational freedom and parental choice in America, this is the new civil rights battlefield. My very own parents made the decision about my early education realizing that a good quality education unlocks the doors to equality of opportunity. If we continue down this current path we lessen the opportunities for our children, but we increase the ability for others to determine their outcomes. If taxpayers, parents, are the ones funding public education, then they are the investors and have a definitive interest in their return on investment.

The time is upon us to take back control of education in America; it is not the realm of the State. It does not exist for the control of the progressive socialists and Marxists. Education exists to unleash our freedom of conscience and enable us to be critical thinkers and productive members of the American society...not mindless lemmings.

If Americans are to Live Free, then we must reestablish educational freedom for the sake of our future generations. If we fail, then the sage wisdom of Ronald Reagan could come true, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

We pass on freedom by teaching children it as a core foundation of our country rooted in our founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution--not by holding LGBTQI+ parades and advancing gender dysphoria while attacking parents.  

Steadfast and Loyal!