Why Homeschooling Works:
May 31, 2009
A Unique Perspective from a Homeschool Dad
Homeschooling a Hot Trend Says the Front Page of USA Today
Give Our Children the Same Choice as Sotomayor
By Wayne Allyn Root, 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee
Friday's USA Today newspaper front page featured a story on a hot trend in education: Homeschooling. As a father of four homeschooled children and the first homeschool dad in
modern political history on a Presidential ticket, I believe I am in a unique position to champion this trend. In 2008 I was the Libertarian Party´s vice presidential nominee. It is my goal to be the Libertarian Presidential candidate in 2012 and a major plank in my platform is the support of school choice, parental freedom and more competition for our failing public schools. In my new book, "The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts!" I describe how school choice and homeschooling can turn around America´s failing education system.
The USA Today article reported that Americans who homeschool are predominately white, wealthy and religious. That may be the demographic makeup of most homeschool parents, but that certainly isn't why we choose homeschooling. We do it because it is effective. Plain and simple, it works! Like all homeschool parents, my wife Debra and I want to provide our children with the best. Unlike the current political bureaucracy and liberal education establishment, I believe it is vitally important for government to give that same opportunity to every child.
Education is perhaps the most important economic issue of our time. Our children are the future of America and the U.S. economy. And like virtually every political, economic, or social issue in this country, freedom is the answer to creating a better future. The freedom to live the American Dream is all about getting a good education. And getting a good education is all about parents having the freedom (and tax dollars) to choose the best education for their children. Once again, the Libertarian solution is freedom, choice and competition.
School choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate borrowed that line but sadly, on the campaign trail, only gave it lip service. Even more sadly, like most Democrats who can afford it, President Obama is a total hypocrite on the issue. He sends his two children to the best and most expensive private school that money can buy (the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC), but opposes vouchers and therefore, school choice for those who can´t afford it. Obama condemns minority children in D.C. to an inferior education compared to his precious daughters Sasha and Malia.
The reason, of course is pure politics. The powerful education lobby gives Obama and other politicians millions of dollars in order to convince them to turn their back on America's youth. This acceptance of “Judas Gold” condemns generation after generation of American children
to a failed education. As an example, in Washington D.C. the drop out rate among minority children is 50%, as it is in urban school districts across the country. I wonder what the dropout rate is at Sidwell Friends School? A poor education condemns these minority kids to a lifetime of failure and futility- something Sasha and Malia will never have to worry about.
Regardless of what the politicians and education establishment try to tell you – the solution is not difficult. It is called choice- school choice for all parents! It's funny how liberals don't fight or protest for that kind of choice.
It is not government's job (or right) to limit educational choices or opportunities for our children. It is not the government's right to take our tax monies (primarily property taxes) and then limit our right to use our share for whatever educational choice a parent deems best for their child. That is the very definition of taxation without representation. The choice of the best education for any child belongs solely with that child's parents. To be blunt, the federal
government has no right to be in the education business- education is never mentioned in the Constitution. Education was intended to be funded and run at the state and local level by our Founding Fathers.
Here's the message that politicians need to hear loudly and clearly- it doesn't take a village or a federal government bureaucrat to raise a child- it takes a mother and father who care.
My wife Debra and I have chosen homeschooling as the best choice of education for our children. That doesn't mean that I want to force homeschooling down everyone's throat, nor anyone's throat for that matter. Homeschooling is simply one educational choice that every parent should consider. Choice is an integral part of any free society.
Parents obviously agree. Government does not. A recent poll in my home state of Nevada proves that parents are crying out for education reform. Nevada parents were asked, if they could afford it, where would they choose to send their children to be educated- public, private, parochial, charter or home-school? 89% of Nevada parents choose alternative forms of education other than public school. Yes, I said 89 percent. Liberal government bureaucrats and teachers union leaders must be worried sick about those poll results and, no wonder, home-schooling is appealing and growing across the USA.
To illustrate the remarkable talent, creativity, and intelligence of home-school children, I offer Exhibit A: my 17-year-old daughter Dakota Root. She is beautiful; well mannered; disciplined; articulate and poised way beyond her years; treats adults with respect; maintains a straight A+ average in her studies; scores in the 99th percentile of every national test she takes; devours as many as a dozen books a month (because she wants to, not because she has to); has achieved a black belt in martial arts; and is a world-class fencer who has participated in
Junior Olympics, Fencing Nationals, and World Cup events internationally. And at the ripe old age of 16, she gave my nomination speech for President of the United States in front of a packed convention hall of Libertarian Party delegates from across the country, and broadcast live on national television on C-Span. I invite you to watch her speech. Please keep in mind that you are watching 16 year old give a political speech on national television:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Por7cV8TE
Or for a media photo/feature about Dakota, go to:
http://www.cyberspacers.com/cyberkids
I will admit that when my wife, Debra, first suggested home-schooling for Dakota, I was skeptical. Skeptical, but unlike government bureaucrats, I was not willing to limit choice. I kept an open mind and agreed with Debra to give it a try. After all these years, I can now report that it has been the best choice we've ever made. At the age of 17, Dakota can out-talk, out-think, and out-debate most every college student and adult that I know. The result is a young lady mature far beyond her years. Home-schooling has made the difference.
As I write this commentary, Dakota just received her S.A.T. (college entrance exam) scores. She not only scored at the very top percentile of students across the country, but scored perfect 800 scores in both writing and reading.
So now we come to the most important part of the story. Why are alternative education and home-school success stories like Dakota's not covered by the mainstream media? The media rarely covers homeschooling at all. When they do, the stories tend to take a negative slant. Why does the media bend over backward to smear homeschooling? Why, like the California judge who recently tried to criminalize it, do close-minded bigots want to outlaw homeschooling?
Is it possible that the success of alternative education threatens the liberal establishment? Is it possible that a positive story like Dakota Root threatens the funding of teachers unions? Is it possible that teachers unions believe that if more U.S. citizens are exposed to the success of home-schooling, parents might be emboldened to take their children out of failing public schools? Perhaps the media isn't looking very hard for proof that home-schooling works. Perhaps they're afraid that stating the truth would hurt their liberal friends in the education union. Perhaps they're going out of their way to distort the picture.
And, it's not just homeschooling that is ignored and maligned by the media, it is any alternative to failing public schools. A good example right now is Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. We hear much about Ms. Sotomayor being a true American success story- the child of immigrant parents raised in a housing project in the South Bronx. The one detail, of course, that is ignored by the media is that a major reason she was able to succeed was that she attended Catholic school. Studies prove that minority students in Catholic schools often fare far better in testing than minorities at public schools. Shouldn't all children have the same opportunity as Ms. Sotomayor? Without her mother's sacrifice and ability to choose, Ms. Sotomayor would very likely be just another unknown victim of the failed public school system.
Please understand that my support of school choice is not an attack on teachers. The world is full of good, honest, caring, bright, passionate teachers. All of my daughter Dakota's homeschool tutors are retired public school teachers (from New York). The problem is not the teachers- it's the teachers union and the overpaid bureaucrats (who never pick up a book, erase a blackboard, or teach a lesson). The same union mentality that fatally damaged the American auto business, has failed our children.
The well-known failures of our public school system have nothing to do with a lack of money. If money was the answer, Washington D.C. (which spends the most money per student in the USA) would be a huge success story. It is not. The fact is that Catholic schools and private schools across the USA spend far less, and pay their teachers far less, yet they produce far superior results to public schools. Public education is the only profession where the more they fail, the more money we give them. And, we have shuffled it to them in bucketfuls. It is insanity- throwing good money after bad- especially, when the solution is so simple: freedom, choice, and competition. Dissolve the Department of Education; start offering competition and choice (with school vouchers) to parents; and start firing poorly performing teachers- then watch public schools dramatically improve.
Home-schooling and the personal attention it offers has certainly brought out the best in my daughter Dakota. Her life is not about the silly things typical teenagers devote their lives to- shopping, gossiping, sleeping, drinking, smoking, drugs, watching American Idol, and so on. She is a disciplined, mature young woman whose life is dedicated to achievement, success, and the acquisition of knowledge- not the kind defined by “state certified” teachers, but rather the kind defined by her free-thinking mind.
Dakota has narrowed her college choices to the Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Penn; as well as Stanford, Duke and Northwestern. She is quite an exceptional and hopeful example of the future of our great country. She makes her father very proud. And I'll bet she can run rings around close-minded bigots, like the California judge who recently tried to criminalize home-schooling without ever meeting a diverse cross section of home-schooled students. I suggest unleashing Dakota Root on the U.S. Supreme Court (if that's where the home-schooling debate winds up). I guarantee soon thereafter that home-schooling will be the law of the land!
I hope that telling Dakota's story might do some good for other thoughtful, caring parents considering educational alternatives to public school. Homeschooling is no longer an isolated fringe idea, but rather a popular mainstream trend. In the end the answer to why homeschooling works is pretty simple: a vast, faceless bureaucracy can never teach a child more effectively than his or her own parents.
The solution to the educational crisis must be increasing parental freedom; expanding educational choices; moving education spending to the state level; offering parents school vouchers; firing poorly performing teachers; and encouraging competition to the current public school system. In the end it's clear that a village doesn't raise a child. But even worse than a village is the damage done by a teachers union. It's a terrible thing to destroy Detroit, or an automaker like GM. But it's a mortal sin to destroy a precious child's future.
Wayne Allyn Root was the 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate. His new book will be released by John Wiley & Sons this July entitled, “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts!” The book is available for pre-sale at Amazon.com. For more of Wayne's views, commentaries, or to watch his many media interviews, please visit his web site at: www.ROOTforAmerica.com
Stand with Sotomayor
May 31, 2009
From OFA Director Mitch Stewart:
This week, hundreds of thousands of supporters like you stood up to support Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s historic nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the long road to confirmation has only just begun. Add your voice, and stand with Sotomayor.
We’ve just launched our action center, an online hub where you can find all the tools you need to help spread the word about Judge Sotomayor, engage in the public debate about her nomination, and make sure decision-makers in the Senate know where you stand. With only a few minutes, you can make a huge difference.
Check out the action center and help confirm this great nominee.
In the coming days and weeks, our opponents will try to play politics with Judge Sotomayor’s nomination, and it’s up to us to help get out the facts and show the public — and key decision-makers — how much support she really has. Here’s how you can help:
Stand with Sotomayor: You can add your name to our public display of support, showing the Senate and the media where the American people stand.
Write a letter to the editor: Using our easy online tool, you can send a letter to your local newspaper about why you support Judge Sotomayor’s nomination — highlighting her extraordinary life story, her tremendous judicial experience, the historic nature of her nomination, or anything else that’s important to you. It’s extremely effective and only takes a few minutes.
Call your Senator: You can look up the numbers of your two Senators, and give them a call to let them know that you support Judge Sotomayor and hope they do too.
Share President Obama’s message: The president has recorded a special message explaining his support for Judge Sotomayor — you can send it on to help educate friends and family.
Display your support: Download posters and get images you can use online to show your support.
Whichever actions you take you’ll be playing a critical role in this historic moment.
Please visit the action center now.
Thank you,
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America
The President’s Weekly Address: Judge Sotomayor
May 30, 2009
The President’s Weekly Address: Judge Sotomayor
Message from Joe Biden: "A home run"
May 29, 2009
Yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden sent out a message to supporters about President Obama nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor:
President Obama hit a home run with his nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court — and not just because she’s the "woman who saved baseball" by ending the strike in 1995, nor simply because she would be the first Latina ever to serve on the high court.
It was a home run because in her three-decade career as a prosecutor, judge, private litigator and law professor, she has time and again earned bipartisan praise as one of America’s finest legal minds. And it was the right choice because Judge Sotomayor — herself born and raised in a South Bronx housing project — has summed up the American dream in her own incredible story and never once forgotten how the law affects our daily lives.
Now her historic nomination goes to the Senate. I know that process well, and I can tell you that the debate of the coming weeks and months will be shaped by the public response in the next few hours and days. It’s critical that the Senate and the public clearly see where the American people stand.
I’ve followed Judge Sotomayor’s remarkable journey for years. I voted for her when President George H.W. Bush nominated her for the District Court in 1992, and I was proud to vote for her again when President Bill Clinton nominated her for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998.
Born to a Puerto Rican family, Sotomayor grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx. She was an avid reader from an early age, and was first inspired to pursue a legal career by the Nancy Drew mystery novels. Driven by her mother’s belief in the power of education and her own relentless work ethic, she excelled in school. She won a scholarship to Princeton University, graduated summa cum laude, and then went on to attend Yale Law School where she served as an editor of the prestigious Yale Law Journal.
Like President Obama, Sotomayor passed up many more lucrative opportunities after law school to put her degree to work for the public good. She served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York, tackling some of the hardest cases facing the city, including robberies, assaults, murders, police brutality, and child pornography. Her growing reputation for fearlessness and legal brilliance prompted her first nomination to the federal bench, and she’s only continued to soar.
If confirmed, she would start with more federal judicial experience than any Justice in a century, more overall judicial experience than any Justice in 70 years, and replace David Souter as the only Justice with firsthand experience as a trial judge. She has participated in over 3,000 panel decisions and authored roughly 400 opinions, expertly handling difficult issues of constitutional law, complicated procedural matters, and lawsuits involving complex business organizations.
In her years on the bench, Judge Sotomayor has earned acclaim from legal scholars and experts from both sides of the aisle for her intellectual toughness, her probing oral questioning, and her ability to issue decisions that hold both factual details and legal doctrines in equal measure. And she’s never failed to apply a steady, common-sense analysis of how the law touches our daily lives.
Her story is incredible. Her qualifications are undeniable. And her judgment will serve us all well on the highest court in the land.
Please join me in becoming a part of this historic moment for the Court and our country. Add your name now to publicly show that you, too, "Stand with Sotomayor." In these crucial early hours, let us leave no doubt about the people’s support for this extraordinary nominee.
Thank you,
Vice President Joe Biden
Message from Joe Biden: "A home run"
Open Thread
May 29, 2009
Photo: Celina Sotomayor, the mother of Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, cries during the announcement by President Barack Obama that her daughter is the nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter, in the East Room of the White House, May 26, 2009.
Commonsensical Deregulation in Credit Markets
May 29, 2009
Commonsensical Deregulation in Credit Markets
by: Paul Ghayad
Economics and Philosophy Major at George Washington University
Libertarian National Committee Intern
Common sense has eluded Congress once again, as well as all sense of personal responsibility
Commonsensical Deregulation in Credit Markets
President Obama on Call to Volunteers: "We need you to stay involved"
May 28, 2009
Aboard Air Force One earlier today, President Obama took time to speak by phone with thousands of Organizing for America volunteers about the urgent need to organize for health care reform.
“If we don’t get it done this year, we’re not going to get it done,” the President said.
He stressed that health care reform will only become a reality if grassroots supporters mobilize support for it in every community in America. The fight over health care reform, he noted, offers a "big chance to prove that the movement that started during the campaign isn’t over.”
We need you to stay involved. The election in November, that didn’t bring about change, that just gave us an opportunity for change…Some of you are in states and districts where politicians are resistant to bringing about change, so we need you to get involved.
If you missed the call, you can listen to the rest of what the President had to say here:
Also speaking on the call was David Plouffe, OFA Director Mitch Stewart, OFA Deputy Director Jeremy Bird, OFA New Media Director Natalie Foster and OFA volunteer Diane Robertson, who offered her advice on how to organize support in your community.
The fight over health care reform begins in your neighborhood June 6th. Sign up to host or attend a kickoff event in your area.
President Obama on Call to Volunteers: "We need you to stay involved"
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