Sunday, June 1, 2008

Proud to Claim the Title

There has been much discussion in recent months about the California ruling that might have required all homeschooling parents in that state to obtain a teaching license in order to teach their own kids. That ruling was decertified.

However, I just learned over at Corn and Oil that the California Teacher's Association filed an Amicus Brief that claimed, among other things, that allowing homeschooling would cause "educational anarchy" in the old Bear Flag Republic. This assertion is discussed further at Principled Discovery.

Now, I am a certified teacher in my state. I also hold an MA in Special Education, alongside advanced degrees in Biology, and I am currently teaching reading programs for IRD, a private company founded expressly to help people of all ages become absorbed and proficient readers.

However, given the state of public education today, I am proud to claim the title of Educational Anarchist. Public education in the United States has become a political boondoggle in which the interests of those who gain power and treasure through the Educational-Industrial Complex are paramount, and the interests of those being educated counts for very little. As in many other areas of life in these United States, the Federal Government has claimed for itself the power and authority that ought to be held by citizens making decisions for themselves as to what constitutes the good life.

According to dictionary.com, the word anarchy is derived from the Greek word Archon, which means an absolute ruler, a tyrant. I am opposed to tyranny in all forms, and bow to no earthly absolute ruler. I believe that the increasing centralization of power in public education is destructive to the very idea of education, and I have written extensively about that on this blog.

I am a proud educational anarchist!

Long live liberty and the freedom of thought that made this country great!

The Educational Anarchist logo above was designed by Imperceptibility and was found at Principled Discovery.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, when the alternative is educational tyranny, the choice is obvious. :) I'm curious what the rest of the brief states. We'll see, I guess.

denise said...

Here, Here!