By Jason Collum, AFA Journal staff writer

September 2001 – If America's public education system were a student taking his report card home today, his parents would likely take away TV privileges tonight.

In the last few decades America's public schools, through the leadership of public unions such as the National Education Association (NEA), have begun to take on more of a social welfare role, placing more importance on things irrelevant to education and irresponsible on the part of the schools, such as the endorsement of the homosexual lifestyle and socialized medicine. In the process, America's children have been getting short-changed on the basic lessons of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

That's the word from two respected voices in the world of education, who paint a grim picture of the state of public education in America. Despite this criticism, they do see rays of hope on the otherwise bleak horizon.

Gary Beckner, president of the American Association of Educators, says though it would be wrong to make blanket assessments of schools on the whole, many aren't doing a very good job.

"We have a severe divide in America," he says. "A majority of our students are in the inner-city, urban districts, and when you compare it (America's school system, urban vs. non-urban) you find a majority of our students are getting an abysmal education. And everyone knows that, from the Department of Education, even under Bill Clinton, to the NEA."

One reason schools aren't performing well and students are hurting could very well be the change in focus schools have made.

"Look at the trend in public schools," says Eric Buehrer, founder and president of Gateways to Better Education. "Schools have changed their missions over the years from being focused on the education of children to being focused on the care of children. That's been 100 years in the
making."

Social welfare 101
One of the most visible trends in public education has been the move to make schools social welfare centers. A growing number of schools have gone so far as to install health clinics and after-school care programs.

Other programs and movements point toward the schools, and ultimately the government, taking on more of a parenting role of students, something Buehrer says is dangerous.

"We see schools taking on more of a middle-class welfare role," Buehrer says, "where the schools are seen as the centers for public policy.

We've gone from having breakfast programs for children who were needy to where these programs are open to any child. So if you're in a middle or upper-class family and don't have time to make breakfast, send the children to school and they'll get a free meal there.

"I don't think that's the kind of thing that promotes self-sufficiency among families. And I don't mean to be harping on breakfast programs; that's just one small example."

Buehrer also said it's becoming more common to see schools with after-school care programs for children. The biggest reason given for implementation of these types of programs is that they're necessary because of the growing number of latch-key children in America. Buehrer points out, though, this forces school districts to further stretch their limited funds in order to become "day-care providers." He likens the situation it creates to a co-dependent relationship.

"Educators say, 'Parents aren't responsible enough, so we have to take on that responsibility.' But the more responsibility [educators] take on, the easier they make it for parents not to take on their responsibilities."

One of the more troubling aspects of public education today, though, is the extent to which social agendas are being driven and extended through schools, specifically the homosexual agenda. One major instigator in this arena is the NEA, which recently withdrew, but didn't end, an ongoing effort to introduce in California schools a curriculum that promotes homosexuality as normal, and teaches children that same-sex couples can make good parents. But that's not all the NEA has been up to.

"Anytime you ever see [the NEA] have all their stars in alignment (such as in California, where they've wrested control in all three chambers of government), you would think they've got ultimate power," Beckner says.

"So what's the first thing out of the box they would want?" he added. "You would hope it would be better wages and salaries for teachers, which is what they say is their first concern, better training for teachers so they could begin to right the ship of schools that are underachieving. But no, the first thing on the block is to force all teachers in the state to pay the [NEA] dues whether they want to or not.

The second thing is to force the legislature to create more homosexual agenda curricula. None of that has anything to do with helping the kids to read, write and compute."

It's a movement that's been going on for some 30 years. "In the late '70s and early '80s," Buehrer says, "when Christians would be involved in education issues, you'd often hear the Left say, 'You're trying to impose your morality on us.' You don't hear that so much anymore, because the Left clearly understands it's trying to impose its morality on us."

Buehrer and Beckner say the blame cannot be placed solely upon the average teacher and administrator, as there are many who don't like this agenda. Liberal politicians, teachers' unions and education leaders who promote this agenda, however, can be blamed, as can parents who are too busy worrying about making a living to care how their children are being educated.

Not all parents can be lumped into the too-busy-to-care category. The majority want their children to receive the best education possible, and many are taking matters into their own hands, choosing to home-school their young ones.

The growth of home-schooling has mostly been fueled by the dwindling quality of public education in America. As a result, Buehrer said, many school districts are seeing an opportunity to work with the home-schooled students, offering parents help and resources previously unavailable. At the same time, though, some see this movement by schools as an effort to reclaim students lost to home-schooling, and many parents may be reluctant to accept help from school districts.

Light at the end of the tunnel 
Buehrer says his ministry is seeing more evidence that millions of Christians within the public schools are beginning to reassert their constitutional rights to speak up, to take their beliefs on campus and to form student clubs and ministries at their schools.

"Educators who are Christians are beginning to say, 'We don't have to simply buy the line that schools must be religion-free zones,'" Buehrer says. "That's something our ministry has really focused on, helping educators, administrators, parents and students articulate Christian faith and values in ways that are constitutionally appropriate. People are realizing there is a need for balance here, that when you enter a school you don't have to act like you're an atheist."

Buehrer also says there appears to be some effort to get back to assessing student performance in schools. The move in the early 1990s to accept outcome-based education, which Buehrer says was an innovative concept that had some redeeming merits, failed. He says it did so because in addition to legitimate points, such as making sure students could do certain things or master certain tasks, the brand of education was corrupted by moves to make sure students believed or accepted certain liberal, political or social issues. Because of this, it was impractical to administer. With that movement effectively dead everywhere but Oregon, other movements are afoot.

"With the standards movement, I think there's a real emphasis on performance," Buehrer says. "There are mixed trends happening. On the one hand I think you have a stronger emphasis on performance and accountability. We have more alternative or charter schools; school districts are beginning to work with homeschoolers, providing them with services and recognizing them as legitimate functions or legitimate alternatives."

Beckner, whose six-year-old organization serves as an alternative to the NEA and offers benefits for educators and others who are fed up with the NEA's agenda, agrees not all is bad within the public education arena. 

"The majority of Americans, and many who support AFA," Beckner says, "are sitting back scratching their heads thinking, 'My kid's getting a pretty good education, and I know my teachers, and they're good, Christian ladies.' And all that may be true.

"But that's out there in the suburban areas of America, where there's not really that much of a problem. We don't think those kids are doing well compared to 50 years ago. So education is in really, really bad shape, but that's primarily for the undereducated and minorities in America."  

For more information about Gateways to Better Education call 949-586-KIDS (5437) or go online at gogateways.org
The American Association of Educators can be reached at 949-595-7979, or online at www.aaeteachers.org.