My cousin is removing her kids from their "Christian" school this month

[bluestateguy]

She made the decision to yank them out at the start of this semester (later this month) after a few too many last straws.

Among some of the gems she shared with me:

* A social studies teacher who constantly refers to the "Democrat Party".

* A mocking attitude about evolution, to the point that believers in Darwin are mocked and threatened with lower grades.

* History textbooks that paper over slavery, deify the Founders to the exclusion of anything critical, and ignore American mistreatment of Native Americans.

The final straw was the school's refusal to air, or even acknowledge, President Obama's back to school speech in September. They just ignored it completely, and would not excuse absences for children who stayed home to watch it.

The only reason she did not pull them out right away was because the tuition for this Fall was already paid. She freely acknowledges the school's right to promote these kinds of attitudes and practices, but she also has the right to vote with her feet, and that's what she is going to do. Fortunately, my second cousins (her children) already have friends at the public school that they will soon be attending.

[hobbit709]

1. What part of "Christian school" did she not understand in the first place?

Rhe schools that advertise themselves like that are fundy to the core.

[Bertha Venation]

2. Who are we to judge? n/t

[we can do it]

7. Education - Not Propaganda For Gawdsake

and people are paying for this shit- more uneducated idiots who think the earth is flat and is only 6000 years old....please no "judging"

:crazy:

[Bertha Venation]

16. Again, who are we to judge?

The choices a parent makes aren't up to you or me. Who am I to say "No, you may not educate your child this way"? It's not my right to do so. It's not even my right to decide what passes for education in their sight. Odious, yes. But it's not up to me. Is that so hard to understand?

[Deep13]

21. We're reasonable people. nt

[Bucky]

3. It's beyond me why anyone would pay for school.

I've had experience with both private school (as a tutor while I was in college) and public schools as a teacher. There's really not that much of a difference, except that public schools are quite a bit louder. But the quality of the education is pretty close until you get to those elite prep school environments. Public schools tend to have better resources, but you have to occasionally put up with one of those annoying punks who don't want to follow the rules. That's about the trade off -- both schools will have drug problems, but public schools will have an on-site cop. Some public schools might have gang problems, but they also have teachers who are a hell of lot more accountable for their failures. Most private school administrators have a political "in" with whoever hired them, which means if they suck at their job the kids are just screwed.

When I first entered the teaching profession I did interview at a couple of private schools--the pay was redonkulous and the interviewers creeped me out.

[seabeyond]

5. listen to people talk about the public school system. wanting best academic environment for kids

i made the choice for private. and a couple other reasons. all we have are christian private in this area. i wasnt bothered by this, i dont think school or friends have power over kids over the parents.

i sent kids to private for academics.

i pulled kids from private in 2004 because as kids advanced i learned the public schools were as good, if not better than the privates. and the school i sent my children to were highest rated academically. i pulled them for other reasons too, nov, 2004 election and the shift in christians attitudes and mentality.

i got sucked into that teaching for test, all public school is a waste mentality

that is why i work so hard on du to present a different perspective with the public schools

they are kick ass. the opportunity for education is there if the child embraces the opportunity. and the academics are higher than the private in our area anyway.

[tigereye]

15. we love our small private school - my son will graduate from 8th grade this

summer. It's a small progressive, non-denominational school.

I have spent a lot of time in public and other schools for work, and I just thought the smaller environment would be better for him. Our teachers, although clearly not as well paid as public school teachers, love teaching there because they can be creative and aren't beholden to political bureaucracy or endless testing. We parents worked hard to set up this school and do a lot of volunteer work to keep it open. (it was a private open school before becoming what it is now and the parents worked all summer long to take care of all the legal and other concerns.) Although I wish I had felt comfortable sending him to the local public school and not having to pay, it has been a wonderful experience and worth every penny. It's a very kind environment and he seems to have had an excellent education so far.

That is why my husband and I have chosen to pay and I feel fortunate that we were able to do so. :shrug:

[stray cat]

4. I guess she doesn't live in a part of the inner city where public schools can be a death sentence

literally. She is lucky she clearly has good options and money

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. Yeah, that's probably the case. Irks you doesn't it? -nt

[seabeyond]

6. we did this back in 2004. pulled them out end of nov after holiday.

it all worked out great. the experience in the christian school was great and HUGE lesson for the whole family. being out of it was great too

and the public schools have exceeded the private academically.

[surrealAmerican]

8. Are these schools accredited by the state?

If so, they should be required to meet some sort of educational standards.

[SoxFan]

9. Point of Clarification

Let's not confuse "Christian" schools with Catholic schools.

Catholic secondary schools, particularly those run by teaching orders such as the Jesuits, Marists, or Benedictines, are academically rigorous and intellectually challenging. Very often, there's an emphasis on social justice worked into the curriculum.

The fundamentalist version is a different story. Too often, those places are weird echo chambers. I remember the mock election at Shiloh Christian in Springdale, AR, where Bob Dole beat Bill Clinton by carrying around 95% of the vote.

[seabeyond]

10. i guess one would also have to have the distinction between christian and fundamentalist

run schools, too.

[PassingFair]

11. Catholic schools broke no arguments on the theological front, either.

My brother's 3rd grader was sent to the principal
for questioning god's existence.

They had to go to a meeting to determine whether
or not they were going to excommunica...I mean
expel her.

In the end, they determined that, as my brother
represented two paying customers, he could keep
his children there if he could get them to shut up.

They told him that the 3rd grader would NOT be welcome
back after the school year was over, but they changed
their minds when they were told that the "good" i.e. SILENT
child would be pulled if that happened.

[LeftyMom]

17. Must depend on the area.

A fair number of students at the local Catholic girls' high school are Muslim, and based on the demographics of the area I'd bet a fair fraction of the remainder are Buddhists. They seem to get that people are there for the academics and the single-sex environment, so they offer an ethics class instead of weekly chapel for students so inclined, and honestly other than the nuns in the office and the crucifixes over the door there's not much to distinguish it from one of the better public schools in the area.

But back when I was in school they wouldn't get me enroll at the local Catholic elementary because only my Dad is Catholic and my Mother wasn't willing to do the conversion classes (she didn't have to convert, just do all of the classes. My parents were split up and she lived in Hawaii, so the idea that she had to learn Catholic teachings to keep from messing me up somehow was pretty stupid.) So kid sis and I went to public school and Dad saved a boatload of money. I guess these days they can't afford to turn away customers like that.

[femmocrat]

12. A lot of public schools didn't air Obama's speech either.

Ours included. Cowards.

[Posteritatis]

18. Even here there were sime impressive freakouts over it

Some putz on GD actually sincerely believed the speech was the most authoritarian act in human history - no hyperbole - and couldn't conceive of anything worse.

Gotta love perspective failures; yow.

[Initech]

13. Ever notice how the people who don't believe in evolution look really unevolved?

[pokerfan]

19. Really?

[crim son]

14. Hmmmm. She's doing the right thing.

My extremely right-wing Catholic wingnut neighbors took their kids out of the local Catholic school because her kids were treated like crap by the other students, and because the level of education was way below what they expected even from a public school. A religious school is not better than any other school just because it's religious despite what some idiots say.

[raccoon]

22. Is she your first cousin? If so, her kids are your first cousins once removed.

Still, sounds like it was a good idea for her to pull her kids out of that school.