Public schools teach kids to be world-class thinkers
(Editor's note: From time to time we'll publish work we like -- with the author's permission, of course -- that may not otherwise be available on the web. The following letter appeared in the Mankato Free Press on Wednesday, January 11, 2006.)
NANCY CRAMBLIT
American education has long been the place where all young people are given a chance to learn the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as cooperation, respect and problem-solving. In a recent column, Cal Thomas claimed that "religious" parents should remove their children from state schools (with "instruction manuals" to turn them into secular liberals) and place them in private schools or home school them.
I've been an educator more than 20 years and I've never seen one of these instruction manuals. Instead, I have observed competent, caring professionals working to make each student learn respect by being respected, learn cooperation by working in groups and learn problem-solving skills by looking at a variety of ideas and facts and choosing the best solution.
In public schools, students learn that people don't always have the same first language, religion, abilities or type of family, but that all people deserve respect and may help us learn to make a better world.
No school tells a student or their family what they must believe and no public school curriculum negates the beliefs and the values that a family or their religion teaches.
Rather than teaching children to be secular liberals, as Thomas claims, I say that public schools teach them to be worldclass thinkers and leaders.
Children and adults who learn and believe that their "truth" is the only truth are a large part of the problem we have with world conflicts and political alienation. Our world is going to survive only by working cooperatively and respecting others' beliefs and ideas. Public education is going to have a large part in that.
NANCY CRAMBLIT
American education has long been the place where all young people are given a chance to learn the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as cooperation, respect and problem-solving. In a recent column, Cal Thomas claimed that "religious" parents should remove their children from state schools (with "instruction manuals" to turn them into secular liberals) and place them in private schools or home school them.
I've been an educator more than 20 years and I've never seen one of these instruction manuals. Instead, I have observed competent, caring professionals working to make each student learn respect by being respected, learn cooperation by working in groups and learn problem-solving skills by looking at a variety of ideas and facts and choosing the best solution.
In public schools, students learn that people don't always have the same first language, religion, abilities or type of family, but that all people deserve respect and may help us learn to make a better world.
No school tells a student or their family what they must believe and no public school curriculum negates the beliefs and the values that a family or their religion teaches.
Rather than teaching children to be secular liberals, as Thomas claims, I say that public schools teach them to be worldclass thinkers and leaders.
Children and adults who learn and believe that their "truth" is the only truth are a large part of the problem we have with world conflicts and political alienation. Our world is going to survive only by working cooperatively and respecting others' beliefs and ideas. Public education is going to have a large part in that.
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