Voddie Baucham Ministries

The Continuing Collapse: August 2009

Friday, August 14, 2009

by Dr. Bruce Shortt

WELCOME TO THE CONTINUING COLLAPSE!

Exposing Government Schools: The Youth Ministry of the State Church of Secular Humanism

August, Anno Domini 2009

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies."
(Groucho Marx)       Here richly, with ridiculous display,The Politician's corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged
I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged.
(Hilaire Belloc)

This month we begin with [drum roll and fanfare]: The First Fundamental Truth of Government Education:

The Government education system is above all about maintaining or increasing the
money flowing to education special
interests and providing certain
leftist groups with privileged
ideological access
to children.

By now the "The First Fundamental Truth" should be obvious to just about anyone, and without a clear grasp of it you will never understand the behavior of government schools.

Nevertheless, some benighted souls persist in thinking that Dear Old Mr. Chips and Our Miss Brooks still haunt public school corridors.

Fortunately, the Chicago public schools have boldly come to the assistance of TCC's effort to dispel any doubts about The First Fundamental Truth.

Our Highly Trained Education Professionals and Their
Friends will do Nearly
Anything for Money

Like most other school systems, Chicago public schools are short of cash because of declining attendance and tax revenues. What's a school district to do?

Well, the Chicago way is to invite a popular rapper to help get out the "back-to-school" message. The strategy is simple - use the performer to get enough students back to school for the "snapshot date" that determines annual school funding to ease the district's financial problems.

After the snapshot date and the end of the celebrity promotion, the students attracted by celebrity will again leave, but the schools got their money. Mission accomplished.

The only problem is that the young celebrity's hit music video is titled "Birthday Sex"........ Or is it a "problem"?

In days gone by, if officials were caught having built a public relations campaign aimed at children around a crooner of nasty music the officials would stampede to microphones and television cameras expostulating loudly that "they had no idea," "someone did sloppy staff work", and "measures will be taken to assure that this won't happen again."

No more. When confronted with what ought to have been embarrassing questions, the school officials described Mr. Birthday Sex as a "role model" and “someone who can get the word [out] about getting our kids back to school.”

Indeed, even Richie Daley, hereditary mayor of Chicago and resident bard, lent his resonant eloquence to the defense of Mr. Birthday Sex and higher government school capitation revenues: “Today you have all types of artists and music, and like anything else, you’re going to sing their songs and let them sing it. It’s freedom of speech, and he’s just pursuing careers, as well as making money off this and why not?”

But, Dear Reader, TCC doesn't want to deprive you of a first hand report. Behold the fruit of government education and liberalism..

Want to be a role model to the kids of a major American city? All you need, at least in Chicago , is a high school diploma and a dirty song on the charts.

Just at look at the celebrity Chicago public school officials chose to help with the system’s back-to-school campaign – 21-year-old R&B singer Jeremih, whose song “Birthday Sex” hit number 4 on the charts this summer...

“Birthday Sex” explicitly depicts the circumstance of a man who offered his girlfriend sex for her birthday in lieu of a gift or a cake.

Officials hope Jeremih’s diploma from a Chicago high school, combined with tweets to his 75,000 followers on Twitter about the first day of school, will motivate students to return to school in the fall.

“He’s a young man, [with a] back-to-school message, a young man who has had great success recording, producer, going to school, went to public school,” praised mayor Richard Daley. “Graduated from Morgan Park, and like anything else, he’s willing to help other youngsters in our public school system.”

Jeremih’s also a young man whose best-known song contains the following lyrics:

You close your eyes as I improv between your legs We work our way from kitchens, stoves and tables Girl, you know I'm more than able to please yeah You say you wanted flowers on the bed (on the bed) But you got me in hours on the bed

The singer told Rolling Stone an effect of the song has been, “Every day, girls tell me it’s their birthday. I’m thinking of working for hire.”

Neither that statement nor the lyrics in the song don’t appear to be a problem for Chicago Public School officials. According to Ron Huberman, CEO of CPS, the singer is a “role model” and “someone who can get the word about getting our kids back to school.”

Alderman Fredrenna Lyle defended the choice to partner with Jeremih because his song is “on every radio station that plays contemporary music.” She continued, “He is someone who can get [students’] attention and when the gets their attention he has the opportunity to give them a positive message about coming back to school.”

For these officials, a positive message about school trumps two terrible messages portrayed in Jeremih’s biggest hit.

First, for boys, this songs says “All you need to do is offer a girl sex for her birthday. She’ll be thrilled.” The flip side of that message for girls is “You’re not worth anything but a hot night for your guy.”

Second, there’s an element in the song that refers to male sexual dominance. Jeremih sings, “1-2-3... Think I got you pinned/Don't tap out, fight until the end/Ring that bell, and we gon start over again.”

Research, such as a 2006 study published in Pediatrics, found that adolescents who listen to music with degrading sexual lyrics were more likely to initiate sexual intercourse and engage in other sexual behavior than those who did not.

A 2003 study found 16 percent of high schoolers ranked music among the top three sources of moral guidance.

Daley brushed aside concerns about the content of Jeremih’s songs under the “free speech” mantra. “Today you have all types of artists and music, and like anything else, you’re going to sing their songs and let them sing it. It’s freedom of speech, and he’s just pursuing careers, as well as making money off this and why not?”

Jeremih might encourage students to come back to school in September, but his music is also promoting terrible sexual morals. Responsible officials would ask themselves, “Is it worth it?”
http://www.cultureandmedia.com/articles/2009/20090806084534.aspx

As you can easily see, given a choice between the well-being of the children in their charge and money, the government school officials obeyed The First Fundamental Truth.

In addition, please note that Chicago's highly trained education professionals have scored a twofer: not only will they get more money, but by bringing Mr. Birthday Sex into the schools to promote promiscuity, they are propagandizing children to accept the view of human sexuality advocated by the degenerates in the "sex education" industry.

Of course, it is possible that Mr. Birthday Sex's celebrity will be an insufficiently potent draw to revive Chicago's capitation funding. In that case, next year we might be treated to a lyrical defense by Richie Daley of live sex assemblies in the schools preceding the snapshot date.

Detroit and The First Fundamental Truth

TCC takes its role of therapy provider to recovering government school inmates seriously. Consequently, for the remaining "First Fundamental Truth Deniers" TCC takes you to Detroit.

Readers of TCC should know that the highly trained education professionals of The Motor City have, through the application of their remarkable skills, managed the Detroit Public Schools to the brink of bankruptcy.

Although large amounts of money have been lost to fraud, waste, and incompetent management, the main driver of Detroit Public Schools' insolvency is the loss of victims.

Indeed Detroit's financial problems are so conspicuous and severe that the school board's financial authority has been stripped and a receiver, Mr. Robert Bobb, has been appointed to sort out the mess.

Because of reduced funding resulting from dramatically reduced enrollment, Mr. Bob Bobb has conceded that the Detroit schools have no way to return to fiscal solvency other than by bankruptcy. Yet a few days ago Mr. Bob Bobb pulled back from filing for chapter 9 (the bankruptcy chapter applicable to government entities).

Why? Because 85% of the district budget is salaries, the vast majority of which are covered by union contracts. In the recent bankruptcy of the city of Vallejo, California, the courts confirmed that government contracts with unions can be rejected or modified in bankruptcy.

Consequently, the leaders of the union representing Detroit's highly paid and highly trained education professionals have made it clear to Mr. Bob Bobb that fixing the school district is less important than preserving their contracts.

Consequently, Mr. Bob Bobb has set aside bankruptcy for a new strategy - the "I'm In!" campaign, which is an effort to lure students back into the Detroit schools so that Detroit can collect the $7,550 per student in capitation funding provided by the state on an increased student base.

Will "I'm In!" have a headliner like Mr. Birthday Sex? No. Bear in mind that Mr. Bob Bobb is no Richie Daley. He is a financial guy with the soul of an accountant.

As a result, "I'm In!" will feature a display of 172 blue wooden doors (TCC is NOT making this up) representing the 172 schools in the Detroit system and some "snappy radio and television ads extolling the benefits of a Detroit Public Schools education".

In case you are wondering, the blue doors are supposed to remind Detroit parents that Detroit's schools are now "Committed to Excellence!" and "Improved!"

Barring complicity from the state in fraudulently inflating attendance numbers, Detroit will file chapter 9 this year.

...Robert Bobb announced in July that his office had meetings with lawyers and a former federal judge to debate the merits of Chapter 9 bankruptcy to help bail out the district.   Bobb said Thursday during the unveiling of an ambitious student retention campaign that he is not sure whether bankruptcy "is the best course of action" for the district, which faces a deficit of at least $259 million and plummeting enrollment...

Keith Johnson, president of the 7,700-member Detroit Federation of Teachers union, argued against bankruptcy, saying it would imply the district is "broke" and send the wrong message to the parents it's trying to keep.   "Bankruptcy would be the most expedient way to eliminate the district's deficit, but I believe the adverse impact would offset that," Johnson said Thursday.   Salaries and benefits for Detroit Public Schools employees take up about 85 percent of the district's budget. The administration and unions are in contract negotiations leading up to the Sept. 8 start of school.   Bobb has been on the job 157 days. Appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm to correct district finances, he ordered 29 schools closed by this fall and laid off 1,700 employees, including more than 1,000 teachers.   A number of audits have revealed unchecked spending, fraud and little oversight..."We continue to dig," he told Detroit-area media executives in a meeting Thursday. "You have to be serious about fraud, waste and abuse, and ferret those things out."   During the meeting, Bobb pitched the "I'm In" campaign, designed to halt the exodus of students from the district and persuade some parents to return their children to Detroit schools.   Detroit's falling population, along with competition from charter schools and suburban public schools, helped reduce the district's enrollment to less than 100,000 last fall.   Fewer students mean less money coming in. The district receives $7,550 per student from the state.   Symbols of the "I'm In" effort will be 172 blue wooden doors. The doors -- one for each of the district's schools -- are meant to remind parents about an improved curriculum and commitment to excellence. They will be displayed later this month in downtown's Hart Plaza and on Belle Isle over Labor Day weekend.   The campaign also will feature snappy radio and television ads extolling the benefits of a Detroit Public Schools education, Bobb said.
http://www.metasearch.com/www2search.cgi?p=detroit+schools+bankruptcy&l=20&s=o

TCC can't wait to hear the "snappy" ads touting the virtues of a Detroit Public Schools education...ah...how about, "Our graduates are remedial education-ready!"

Why Would a District Borrow Hundreds of Millions of Dollars to Build Schools in
Areas with Surplus Classroom Space
and Rapidly Declining
District Enrollment?

Because the construction special interests that are a vital part of the government school establishment must be fed whether new schools are needed or not. If this baffles you, go back and re-read The First Fundamental Truth.

From Cleveland...

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland school district continues to plan for new elementary schools in blighted neighborhoods where enrollment has plunged, threatening to chew up state construction money that could be used in more stable parts of town, an analysis shows.

Enrollment is dropping faster than projected in some neighborhoods, primarily on the East Side. If construction continues, taxpayers could wind up paying for more school space than is needed, according to a report released today by the Bond Accountability Commission. The group monitors the one-third local share of a $1.5 billion construction and renovation program.

The analysis by commission administrator James Darr assumes that more than 25 schools not scheduled for work will close. If the buildings remain open, the surplus of space will soar, he said.

Darr called on the district to promptly shrink or eliminate schools where necessary....
District enrollment has plummeted from more than 70,000 to about 50,000 since planning for the building program began.

The program, nearly half-completed, is on pace to run out of money before it wraps up in 2015. The district, which persuaded voters to pass a $335 million bond issue in 2001, has estimated that it will need to ask for another $217 million.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/07/cleveland_schools_planning_mor.html

Veteran readers of TCC will recall that TCC has reported on the same phenomenon in Florida and elsewhere.

"Some Government Schools May Be Ideological Re-education
Camps for the Left, But Our
Schools Are Different"

Yep, and the "check's in the mail" and "I'll still respect you in the morning".

TCC has pointed out repeatedly that "local control" belongs to a bygone era. Federal and state law, judicial decisions, the influence of national unions, and leftist control of teacher training and certification means that your schools aren't different in any relevant sense.

Nevertheless, TCC has compassion even for slow learners. Consequently, TCC would gently ask you, does your school use textbooks?

Here is a report from World Magazine on just one small aspect in which the left controls the content of the textbooks in your "really different school" as just as they control the textbooks in California and Massachusetts.

An eye-opening book titled The Language Police lists about 500 words that are banned from school textbooks. Some are amusing, some stupid (probably a banned word), and some are chilling. Here is a very partial list of banned words:
Founding Fathers—Banned as sexist. Replace with Founders or Framers. (Because we would not want to note that the men who wrote the documents were men)
Caveman—Banned as sexist, replace with cave dweller. (Wonder if that makes the Geico Cave . . . uhhh . . . dweller feel a little better?)
Disadvantaged—Banned, replace with reference to the resources or rights that are absent in an individual’s life circumstances. (Example: Dave cannot sing because of resources that are absent in his individual life circumstance. Like talent.)
Courageous—Banned as patronizing when referring to persons with disabilities. (Some of the most courageous people I know are those who are disabled. I really don’t get this one.)
God—Banned for being . . . steady yourself . . . too religious. (I can’t even muster the strength to respond.)
Lunatic—Banned as offensive, replace with person with a psychiatric illness. (C.S. Lewis would have to change his famous argument about Jesus being Lord, liar, or lunatic. His PC argument would be something like this: Is the revered moral teacher a higher power, untrustworthy source, or person with a psychiatric illness? Kind of loses its pizzazz doesn’t it?
Soda—Banned for regional bias, replace with Coke, Pepsi. (Seriously? Regional bias? I grew up drinking “pop” and moved to “Coke” territory. That has not been my biggest life issue so far.)
Teenager—Banned, replace with adolescent. (I was all for banning teenagers at various times in my household. Especially when they acted like lunatics.)
http://online.worldmag.com/2009/08/10/banned-words/
 Now, remedial learner, please go back and review The First Fundamental Truth.

The Second Fundamental Truth About Government Schools:

Government Schools Cannot Be Reformed

Informed parents and taxpayers know that "school reform" has proved to be nothing more than just a way to transfer ever-increasing amounts of tax money from taxpayers to our failed highly trained education professionals.

When Michelle Rhee was put in charge of D.C. schools by D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty she was given almost a blank check to "reform" what may be America's worst government school system. Because of vociferous opposition by teachers' unions and the other usual suspects to anything that might disturb their sinecures, Fenty has staked a great deal on Rhee and the promise of reform.

But, after all of the media attention Rhee and her ideas about "reform" initially generated, people have been beginning to ask "Where's the beef?" - that is, what has been accomplished?

To avoid an unambiguous admission that "reform" has yet again proved elusive, Fenty has now eliminated funding for an independent assessment of the Rhee administration. Are we surprised?

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has eliminated funding for an independent evaluator assigned to assess the progress of public school reform under Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, according to the revised 2010 budget he submitted to the D.C. Council late Friday....

Fenty (D) also reversed a series of other budget measures, approved by the council in May, that sought to divert some of the mayor's control of education to other agencies. They include the shift of staff and funds from Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso to the D.C. State Board of Education, which would be established as an independent agency. The board would house the office of the ombudsman for public education, which is responsible for investigating complaints and answering questions from parents.

The proposed moves reflect the council's discontent with what some members see as a lack of transparency and accountability in the mayor's efforts to transform the District's struggling public school system. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072002991.html

The Third Fundamental Truth about Government Schools:

Government Schools are Politically Invulnerable, But They are
Financially Unstable and
Their Collapse Can Be
Forced by Defunding
Through Removing
Students and Defeating
Bond Levies

Even though the theoretical under pinnings and evidence supporting The Second and Third Fundamental Truths have been reported on in every issue of the TCC, most pastors and Christian parents who admit that government education is "broken" advocate "reform, while, of course, leaving their children in their local pagan seminary. This allows them to appear to be doing something while continuing to enjoy their favorite middle-class welfare entitlement.

Even though the sloth and cupidity of most Christians prevents them from recognizing The Third Fundamental Truth, parents in the Los Angeles Unified School District have figured this out.

Here is the headline and story from the Los Angeles Times:

Could parents' screams jolt L.A. Unified into action?

Parents, fed up by the state of public education, are demanding reforms and threatening to pull out their children, try to shut down schools and start charters.

I don't know about you, but I'm doubling the dosage on my blood pressure meds.

We've got a California budget "fix" that kicks thousands of people in the teeth and gives us another three, maybe six months, before we'll need another one...

And now a slew of talented young teachers are looking for work after being fired for lack of seniority, even as dozens of other teachers keep getting paid despite their removal from classrooms for misconduct allegations.

The world's gone mad, no doubt. But shenanigans of this variety are so common, most people just shrug. That's why I'd like to call attention to some parents who are ticked off about the state of public education, but instead of shrugging, they're screaming.

There's the Lemonade Initiative, started by "three LAUSD moms who are mad as hell about the current state of education in Los Angeles," as their website says. And there's the Parent Revolution, which has more political clout and some financial backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates and Eli Broad foundations, among others.

I haven't yet met with the Lemonade moms, but I have been talking to the latter group, which has had it up to here with the Los Angeles Unified School District and the teachers union. So they're plotting a takeover, one school at a time, and demanding improvements -- or else.

Or else what?

Or else they'll pull out their children and try to shut down the schools...

"We have to pick some fires to light," said Laura Alice, a soldier in the Parent Revolution...

So now Parent Revolution leaders are meeting with officials at the schools their children will one day attend and demanding that they shape up fast. And the parents aren't asking for a few more textbooks and cleaner bathrooms. Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution and a former political aide for both President Clinton and L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, listed the top three demands:

A new labor contract for teachers.

Accountability from all educators.

And a whittled-down bureaucracy.

Well, yeah. Sure. Count me in.

But what are the chances?

"They cannot stop us," Austin said Tuesday morning at the Cow's End in Venice, where we had coffee with two fighting-mad parents. "We're not playing their game anymore."

Although I respect Supt. Ray Cortines and appreciate that teachers union boss A.J. Duffy's job is to fight for his members, I doubt that either institution is capable of the radical changes being demanded here...

"The power structure defends the status quo and says this is the best we can do," said Austin, whose mantra is that administrators and union bosses are out to protect their own interests before those of the children.

That will end, he said, when enough parents stand up and take charge.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez22-2009jul22,0,5663596.column

If parents in L.A. can figure out where the government school establishment's vulnerability lies, you would think that pastors and Christian parents could figure it out too. Or, perhaps they have and just don't care.

Memphis:

Another Example of Financial Stress on the Government School Establishment Resulting from Declining Enrollments

The Memphis City Council on Tuesday is expected to vote on how it will fund city schools, a proposition that last year created fights, lawsuits and no resolution.
So far, the city has allotted roughly $19 million in property taxes to the schools....

But the school district wants $84 million, the same it asked for last year, then filed suit to get.

Based on a Chancery Court judge's ruling, the city must pay the school district $84 million for the year that started July 1. It also owes $57 million withheld last year.
But the judge granted the city a stay on the $57 million payment until the case is heard on appeal.

Now, because city school enrollment has decreased by some 3,000 students, City Council attorney Allan Wade said the district shouldn't expect the same funding.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jul/20/school-funding-before-council/

Note that collapsing the government education establishment doesn't require removing every student. The Detroit Public Schools financial death spiral began with the loss of about 8% of the district's students.

That's a wrap for this edition of The Continuing Collapse. So, TCC bids you a fond adieu and asks you to:  REMEMBER:
   1. Feel free to circulate The Continuing Collapse.    2. If you aren't hearing about at least some these government school problems from your pastor, why is he your pastor?   3. FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS.
 “Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm – but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.”

T.S. Eliot

For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in TRUTH

-3 John 3,4 ESV