Targeting the existence of public schools

[ProSense]

Targeting the existence of public schools

By Steve Benen

About a year ago, when Rick Santorum's presidential campaign was still in its infancy, he included an interesting target in a list of societal enemies: public education.

"Just call them what they are," Santorum said. "Public schools? That's a nice way of putting it. These are government-run schools."

The former senator has apparently begun targeting public schools all over again.

For the first 150 years, most presidents home-schooled their children at the White House, he said. "Where did they come up that public education and bigger education bureaucracies was the rule in America? Parents educated their children, because it's their responsibility to educate their children."

"Yes the government can help," Mr. Santorum added. "But the idea that the federal government should be running schools, frankly much less that the state government should be running schools, is anachronistic. It goes back to the time of industrialization of America when people came off the farms where they did home-school or have the little neighborhood school, and into these big factories, so we built equal factories called public schools. And while those factories as we all know in Ohio and Pennsylvania have fundamentally changed, the factory school has not."

A day later, CBS's Bob Schieffer asked Santorum, "Are you saying that we shouldn't have public schools, now? I mean, I thought public schools were the foundation of American democracy." The Republican presidential hopeful didn't back down, reemphasizing his belief that federal and state governments should not be involved in public education.

This is politically risky rhetoric. There's ample evidence that the American mainstream considers the public education system one of the nation's most cherished institutions, when asked what areas of the public sector most deserve budget cuts, schools invariably come in last.

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http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/21/10467118-targeting-the-existence-of-public-schools

[kenichol]

1. I'm finding out that many people are not aware of the effort to destroy public education

I always love a spotlight on an issue like this.

[immoderate]

2. Santorum is an idiot who wants everybody to be dumber than he is.

Eliminating education is only the beginning.

--imm

[ProSense]

3. Can

you imagine the "education" his kids must be getting? They probably believe the earth is flat.

[immoderate]

4. they went to pricey private schools. Maybe they laugh about him...

...behind his back.


--imm

[ProSense]

5. Interesting!

So he just wants children whose parents can't afford private tuition to home school their kids?

[immoderate]

7. And he billed the taxpayers of Pennsylvania...

...to pay for his kid's private school in Virginia.

There was some squawking, and I don't know how it was resolved. He may have been rejected or made to pay it back. Someone will remember the incident.


--imm

[FSogol]

6. People who advocate the end of the public school system should have no

voice in our democracy. Santorum needs to be hammered by the press over this point.

[NNN0LHI]

8. I agree

But I can't figure out why Ron Paul gets a pass and be taken seriously when he feels the same way?

Strange.

Don

[FSogol]

9. Pot. n/t

[Major Hogwash]

10. It's been on their agenda ever since Reagan gave control to the states for funding them.

It was a stupid idea to begin with because poorer states just refused to spend any money upgrading them.

They've been using this tactic to strangle the school system here in Idaho for over 20 years.