Get An Education On Indoctrination

Despite spending the second most per-pupil in the world, America’s education system continually ranks near the bottom of industrialized nations when it comes to results.

Part of the problem is the lack of a competitive education market for parents and students, something we’ve tried to rectify at FreedomWorks by supporting successful school choice measures in states like Indiana and North Carolina. And while it has been a banner year for school choice, we also ran into politicians in some states like Pennsylvania, who wouldn’t dare take on the entrenched teachers’ unions for fear of political retribution.

That isn’t exactly surprising. The early endorsement of President Obama by the National Education Association, America’s largest teachers’ union, could be a sign that they are on the defensive. But we should never doubt their ability to play big money politics. They’re already amassing a huge political war chest through a new $10 union dues tax that you get the privilege of financing through your tax dollars.

As a PhD economist and former college professor, I’ve seen this pervasive politicizing of education move beyond elections and into the classroom itself. While students in China and India are learning future job market skills in math and science, American students are being taught to parrot liberal talking points on the “failures” of our economic system.

During the Wisconsin union protests earlier this year over Governor Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, classes were cancelled, and rather than learning, students protested the narrow financial interest of their own teachers. While teachers who mold their students’ political beliefs are clearly unethical, what’s more disturbing is that the things they choose to teach about politics and economics are downright wrong.

You would be amazed by some of the boneheaded things teachers are telling your kids. In fact, I just finished reading a new book on the subject called Your Teacher Said What?!: Defending Our Kids from the Liberal Assault on Capitalism. It’s coauthored by CNBC Squawk Box host Joe Kernan and his ten-year-old daughter Blake and chronicles Joe's efforts to teach his daughter the truth about capitalism she hasn’t been taught in school.

The book is not only well-written but offers starling examples of what our education system teaches children through Blake’s narration. Perhaps the scariest revelation is when Blake remarks that no matter how bad things get, government will always “take care of us”.

It's an education on indoctrination and a call-to-arms for American parents to take back our education system. On the Constitution and the virtues of our free enterprise system, Tea Party members are already taking this step. If you need some motivation to do the same, pick up Joe’s book. But don’t forget to share it with your kids and give them a real education.