Cal Thomas, "America’s most widely syndicated op-ed columnist", recently wrote an article titled Giving ‘exodus’ a new meaning in which he discusses the debate among Southern Baptists about the overwhelmingly humanistic slant of government-run schools. I have heard a couple other authors and speakers discussing the ineffectiveness of the public school system. I’ve long held that there is very little that the government can do that the private sector can’t do better (those that make this short list are such Constitutional things as military defense, regulating commerce, etc). Not until recently have I begun to consider whether or not this idea could and/or should apply to public schools as well.
I’m not a big fan of home schooling, and neither is Angela. I question the capability of Joe and Jane Blow to teach as effectively as someone trained to do so (though there are obvious exceptions), but I’m sure that’s not really fair at all. We’ve always felt that it would better for children to spend time in a classroom with other children, as that would give them more social exposure, as well as giving them access to greater educational resources, especially in science. (Yes, I’m aware of home school groups and even studies that say my argument is not only not well founded, but possibly completely inaccurate. As more information of the sort comes out, I’m certainly open to revising my stance).
Private schools can have their own issues, though. In some schools, a larger portion of the population than I’d like is made up of kids who were kicked out of public schools. The net result is that you pay for the right to subject your kids to what you’re trying to avoid. Obviously, care must be taken in selecting a school.
But the question is this: should we, as Christian parents, pull our kids out of the often anti-Christian public school system? The more I think about it, the more I’m inclined to agree with the idea. Cal Thomas hit the nail on the head:
In an essay published last week at ethicsdaily.com, Shortt wrote, "Government schools are converting our children to alien creeds and infusing them with false and destructive values." Pinckney added, "God gives the responsibility for education of children to the parents, not the government." Indeed. And it has been the decision by too many parents to allow government to shape their children’s worldview and values that is responsible for spiritual and intellectual disorder that now inhabits the souls and minds of too many offspring of Christian parents.
He asserts, and rightly so, that too many parents leave the task of "shap[ing] their children’s worldview and values" to the schools. Whether in a public or a private school, it’s of the utmost importance that parents be heavily involved in the education process of their children, which Angela and I have every intention of doing. The rub for me is that I’m a product of the government school system. I did have, though, parents that were involved, a healthy, well-balanced church, and I grew up in Oklahoma, where the secular influence, while present, still seems to be heavily tempered by the (at least professed) Christian faith of the majority of the state’s residents. Are things bad enough in general and, more specifically, in Oklahoma to warrant the abandonment of the public school systems? I don’t know. If we had a voucher system the question would be much simpler. Since we don’t, I have some hard thinking to do. Luckily, I have a few years to figure it out. Time will tell…