This morning’s Intelligencer Journal has a very interesting story on new ideas being implemented by local school districts.
New Programs Welcome New Students
Here are some of the best and the worst. First, the worst: (more…)
Archive for August, 2010
The Best and Worst Idea in Local Education
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010The “Jesus” Problem, Part #5
Monday, August 30th, 2010In past installments of the “Jesus” Problem, we have worked our way through some of the issues confronting education in general and Christian education specially. We have seen how “Jesus” has actually become a dividing line in education and in educational funding—He is becoming even more of a stumbling block in this arena. Recently, corporations (the larger the corporation the more likely they are to bow to the pressure) have begun carefully avoiding giving to causes linked to Jesus—mainly because of pressure from the political left and a general concern that the attention this brings is bad for business. We have noted how the political wisely and unhesitatingly funnels money into schools that have to leave Jesus out of curricular discussion and have to diminish His role and His teaching at their schools (whether Christian parents or teachers at that school want Him there or not). We have seen how those on the political right tend to try to compete with the political left to fund education even though the schools are increasingly teaching (again whether Christian parents and teachers like it or not) with a worldview that is against Christianity. We have seen how the American public is torn. They are increasingly feeling the pinch of higher taxes to support schools that seem to have an insatiable appetite for funds and have failed (sometimes egregiously) to give kids a very basic level of cultural or technical education. Finally, today we examine the church. (more…)
The “Jesus” Problem, Part 4
Friday, August 27th, 2010We have looked at how corporations, the political left, and the political right are reacting to Christ and how they are supporting (or refusing to support schools that have Christ in their curriculum). Now it is time to take a look at the American people to see how they are reacting. To say anything about the American people necessitates that we speak in generalities. When I survey the landscape of America I see a few different groups and one overarching problem.
The first group we could call the “trapped”. This mainly consists of the poor. They have no educational options and our political leaders seem to want it to stay this way. The cycles of poverty and poor education in the inner cities are almost a cliché, but, of course, things could be done. The failing schools could simply be dropped into the free market by giving people some sort of tax credit to use at private schools. Many would leave the failing schools and change would come. Do not, however, hold your breath for this. The poor have no political weight to make this happen, their representatives are servants of the educational status quo, and those outside of the inner cities are more apt to turn a blind eye to their needs. (more…)
The “Jesus” Problem, Part 3
Thursday, August 26th, 2010In The “Jesus” Problems, Part 1 and 2, we have seen that corporations—especially large ones—are now very willing to support any cause except one that names Jesus Christ. We have seen, also, that the political left is siphoning off money from people on both the right and the left to fund schools that keep Jesus out. Now, we come to an examination of the political right.
The right, it seems to me, competes with the left to see how supportive it can be and how much money it can give to the schools that keep Jesus assiduously outside. Candidates are on the fringe if they are in favor of school choice or vouchers. No candidate on the political right simply calls for decreases in funding or deeper levels of accountability (i.e., accountability that could result in systemic failure) for the public schools. Why not? The answer is simple. They are trying to get elected or stay elected and this sort of view will not aid them even though someone saying this and doing this will be necessary fiscally if we are to survive. To put a finer point on this: our public schools cannot continue to survive economically into the short term future. Here is a story from the Reading Eagle (Reading!?!?! As far as I can tell the Intelligencer Journal whiffed on this one) that was forwarded to me by a friend: (more…)
A Striking Dissimilarity
Thursday, August 19th, 2010I am working my way through an online video list of 50 Great Political Speeches. Today, I listened to this clip of John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. Here is the clip:
I had read it before, but had not seen it. You should watch it. For me, having just finished the morning paper which proclaimed that President Obama is backing the construction of an Islamic Community Center near the mass grave that we call Ground Zero, I was slapped across the face by the dissimilar approaches of these two Presidents. Kennedy knows Communism to be an evil enemy. He slashes the naivety and support that some could have for Communism by summoning them to Berlin to see what Communism is like. He denies that we can even work with Communists. He is boisterous and his saber is rattling. He knows that the Communists are listening and he wants them to know that until they change, we, the free people of the world, will be there to oppose them. He does not deny the imperfections of democracy, but notes tellingly that “we have never built a wall to keep our people from leaving!” (more…)
The “Jesus” Problem, Part 2
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010In the first part of this blog post—See The “Jesus” Problem, Part 1—I chronicled how “Jesus” ends up being a stumbling block for the business community. They give (many times not willingly) to all sorts of causes because of a sort of blackmail played most recently by the homosexual left against Target.
I also want to do a quick post here on the governmental side of the money equation. During this last week President Obama got Congress to pass a law touted as the Save Our Teachers Bill. This bill authorized the spending of $26,000,000,000 (it is fun to write the numbers out) a portion of which was used to “save the jobs” of 160,000 public school teachers. All of this sounds a little suspect sitting here in Pennsylvania where Governor Rendell (you can watch him on Eagle’s Postgame Live soon) has increased public education spending by close to $500 million over the last two year (when everyone else was cutting back). I have not examined the bill closely. I am quite dubious about its necessity, but whether it is necessary or not is has no bearing on the following argument. (more…)
The “Jesus” Problem, Part 1
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010Recently, I have hit upon a frightening truth. Jesus is getting in the way at Veritas Academy. No, we are not looking to kick Him out. In fact, we would like more of Him, but still He is in the way. Let me explain. Schools like Veritas Academy run like any other school. We buy books, pay teachers and rent, and buy sundry items (everything from computers to tissue paper). Most all of these things cost money. The school’s money comes from tuition and donations. We work hard for the money and people that pay tuition work hard to pay it to send their kids to Veritas. Also, we respectfully ask supporters to give to our school. Many do, and we are thankful for their support. We ask parents and grandparents and friends and alumni. We also ask businesses to support projects that we have. Many small businesses usually give. We also talk to larger businesses, however. On a number of occasions we have been able to make contacts at large businesses and as we discuss our school with them, they are fascinated. Often we talk with these businesses because they have grants that they offer or money that they can give to the school through our Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program. This wonderful program allows businesses to give money to scholarship needy students at schools like Veritas. On a number of occasions we have had someone at a larger business in a decision making capacity decide that they would like to support our work or our students. (more…)
News from Veritas Academy
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010I am pleased to announce that Veritas Academy is offering adult classes in the evenings in the fall and spring. We are offering classes in Omnibus—our study of the Great Books of Western Civilization. Omnibus is a distinctive method of reading and discussing the Great Books of Western Civilization. These books, starting, of course, with the Scriptures, have been the backbone of the great cultural heritage of Western Civilization that has come down to us. These ideas and their consequences have been foundational to the development of Christianity in the West and to the Founding of America. Today, sadly, too often these books and the ideas that they contain are little known in our culture—and our freedoms are being eroded because we do not know the truths of the Bible, the stories of the past, and the great wealth of wisdom handed down from one generation to the next in the Christian West. Omnibus is our attempt to recover these truths by introducing people to their cultural and historical forefathers, by understanding and appreciating the truths that they taught and the sacrifices that they made, and by working to apply timeless truth to our lives today. This method was developed at Veritas Academy over more than a decade and it is used by thousands of classical Christian students and teacher across the country and around the world. (more…)
