Submitted by Tom Shuford, Aug 1, 2007 18:41

Diane Ravitch: "Until we as a society begin to recognize that students and parents must take responsibility for the part of their lives under their direct control, we will continue to be dissatisfied with our schools."

A good place to begin to understand what we --- with our giant monopoly school systems --- have done to parents and families is to consider the aftereffects of the liberation of Eastern Europe from Soviet rule.

Those people, whose lives had been planned for them by the state, were unprepared for freedom. Long years under Communist rule had disabled them, had instilled in them a collectivist "Soviet mentality." They could not fend for themselves in a free market.

Such are the effects of socialism on character.

Now, consider this excerpt from a 2002 interview with Berkeley Law professor emeritus John E. Coons, a pioneer adocate for school choice:

"There are a lot of benign effects of school choice but, for me, choice is family policy. It is one of the most important things we could possibly do as therapy for the institution of the family, for which we have no substitute. The relationship between the parent and child is very damaged if the parent loses all authority over the child for six hours a day, five days a week, and over the content that is put into the child's mind."

"What must it be like for people who have raised their children until they're five years old, and suddenly, in this most important decision about their education, they have no say at all? They're stripped of their sovereignty over their child."

"And what must it be like for the child who finds that his parents don't have any power to help him out if he doesn't like the school? We are always complaining about the lack of responsibility in low-income families. But, the truth is, we have taken the authority away from them in this most important aspect of their child's life...."

"It's a shame that there are no social science studies on the effect of choicelessness on the family. If you are stripped of power—kept out of the decision-making loop—you are likely to experience degeneration of your own capacity to be effective, because you have nothing to do. If you don't have any responsibilities, you get flabby. And what we have are flabby families at the bottom end of the income scale."

"Flabby families" is one sure outcome of government monopoly schooling. To blame parents --- as does Diane Ravitch --- for what we have done to them is, to be generous, naive.

Tom Shuford, Lenoir, NC

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.