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Throughout the Plandemic, the public schools have run slipshod over the needs of their students, shutting down and going to hastily prepared “virtual” learning, mandating that students sit for 8 hours a day ( if you include bus rides to and from school) in unhealthy and mentally cruel masks, allowing non-medical personnel to illegally test and quarantine kids, and usurping the rights and responsibilities of the parents. They have incorporated indoctrination “social justice” components in classroom lessons where only academic content should be.
At the same time, teachers unions have bullied the CDC and other government agencies to force Covid “safety” measures into schools, measures that don’t work and aren’t reasonable. Things like requiring that teachers have two days off for “planning” when virtual learning is suddenly implemented. In Baltimore County, administrators have implemented a patchwork policy of only moving certain schools, certain grades in those schools, and even certain classrooms in those schools to virtual learning if the Covid infection rate breaches a certain percentage. So, if your child’s classroom exceeds a certain percentage of infection, that classroom must immediately go on virtual instruction. No warning. No time for parents to make arrangements so they can keep working, nothing.
But the teachers get two days off to plan for that virtual learning. Now, one day out of school with virtual instruction becomes two days off with nothing prior to that day.
This occurs while students throughout the state are testing at 30% proficient rate in math, reading and language, and science. Parents are reporting that their children are fighting depression at the thought of returning to virtual classes. Nationally, the rate of depression and anxiety among our young people has doubled compared to pre-plandemic levels. And, all the while, one local Superintendent had the gaul to say that the “Kids are used to it ( meaning wearing masks.)” No. They are not.
And, if your kid is anxious, the public schools will happily assign an army of federal/state funded mental health “counselors” to handle that anxiety. And that usually means that they will not solve the problem, but promote it. You can’t have a job as a counselor unless there are tons of kids to counsel.
Parents are waking up. After watching Zoom lessons and seeing what their children were being taught ( and not taught) in school, how they were being taught, and how much time was wasted, many parents appealed to their local boards to make changes. For the most part, those boards turned a deaf ear. In some cases, such as our county, they actually limited parent attendance at board meetings citing Covid measures. In more severe cases, parents were intimidated, called terrorists, and arrested. Recently, it was discovered that the current Secretary of Education, Cardenas, was the person who asked the National School Board Association to write the letter to the Biden Administration asking that parents be designated as domestic terrorists.
Parents decided enough was enough. Many decided to head for private schools where they anticipated more input and control over what was taught, better discipline, more focus on academic achievement and less inclination to cave to useless Covid measures.
This was good news for private and parochial schools.
Pre-plandemic, there were roughly 50.8 million students enrolled in public schools and only about 5.8 million in private schools. Many parents thought the public schools were doing a fine job with their children. At the very least, they couldn’t see how there was a big enough difference between public and private school education to justify the average private/parochical school tuition of $11,000 a year investment, especially when local taxes that citizens pay support the public school system in their area.
In fact, many private/parochial schools were losing ground to public schools in attendance.
Suddenly, with the pandemic, private/parochial schools started to gain ground. They had more flexibility to stay open and often did for five days a week, contrary to what public schools did. Parents who would have to stay home from work with their children could suddenly not have to worry about a decline in earnings because they couldn’t work. The investment in private school was worth it.
It was particularly attractive when the private schools started offering more financial assistance to parents, hoping to capitalize the sudden interest from the public. They knew that if they could get the kids in the door, follow through on parents’ hopes for a strong education and disciplined environment, and do their job correctly, those students and families would be more likely to stay. In some more highly priced schools, 75% reduction in tuition was offered.
Some states like New Hampshire and Florida, even offered funding to support families who wanted the private/parochial option.
In the Fall of 2020, upwards of three million students were suddenly absent from public schools. Half a million of them were kindergarten children whose parents did not want their non-reading children chained to virtual learning. In the Fall of 2021, an additional 1. 5 million joined the others in the public school exodus. (2)
Seeing the trend, private school administrators, who tend to view the parents of their students as customers, were busy talking to parents, accepting their input, trying to make sure they were meeting their needs. All while Teachers Unions fought to keep public schools closed and protecting teachers who were either incompetent or negligent.
For the private school it is a huge boost, and all they have to do is focus on why parents left public schools and came to them, and they win. Because the unions and the public schools are more interested in federal and state funding than actually doing what their customers want.
But, like so many things, it seems as though the private/parochial schools are starting to work REALLY hard to kill their golden goose.
Locally, we have seen it first in the Catholic Schools. Catholic schools are under the direction of the church’s diocese. They act like a Department of Education for the schools, granting them their legitimacy, guiding their practices and determining their instructional priorities. In our area, when the public school mandated mask wearing in the fall plus a draconian and unnecessarily complicated method for determining when kids should be quarantined, parents flocked to the Catholic school. It was so many that the school had a waiting list.
And then the Diocese decided that they, like the public schools, needed to implement a mask mandate. No one is quite sure, but rumor had it that threats had been made from the public sector that they would release a story that Catholic Schools didn’t care about the safety of their students. Say what you want about the public schools, but they weren’t going down without a fight.
And so the Archdiocese caved, much to the dismay of the parents who had already signed enrollment contracts. On top of that, parents found that their kids were being subjected to the same classroom bully tactics regarding the vaccine from Covid Cultist teachers as public school students. Sometimes they were asked to raise their hands if they had been vaccinated. Other times the teacher virtue signalled her achievement of getting stuck with an injection that is neither safe nor effective and then placed a big old value judgement on those who hadn’t. There were videos from CNN promoting the vaccines.
And let’s not even discuss the school “medical” staff who found it necessary to “quarantine” cupcakes brought in for student birthday celebrations. ( I must admit, it is a clever way to get extra snacks if the staff wants them.)
In fairness, when parents complained, these practices stopped. The great part about private schools is that you don’t need to talk to a school board to register your objections. However, I do know parents who withdrew their children. Covid indoctrination may not have been the issue in all cases, but it was in some.
Other private schools in the area, some whose yearly tuitions are more than some college tuitions, and some that my children attended in their first 8 years of education, promoted Covid hysteria and indoctrination as well, handing out gift cards for getting the vaccine during athletic awards assemblies. Aren’t these the folks who don’t want to single out children for shaming? Apparently not.
And don’t think that parents fighting CRT and indoctrination is overt racism and instruction in sexual preferences will escape merely by writing that tuition check.
Ask Megyn Kelly, the news celebrity, who pulled her two boys out of an exclusive New York private school when she found out they were being taught to question their gender on a weekly basis. There were other “social engineering” lessons delivered as well. This was all done without parents knowing. She found out when her children mentioned it. It was an all boys school with a tuition of over $56,000 a year.(3)
It doesn’t matter what parents pay, they still may get a hidden agenda. That local school my kids went to? The headmistress lists her “preferred pronouns” at the bottom of her emails. Seriously? What a difference 20 years makes.
So, what’s a parent to do?
First, do NOT rely on the fact that a private school is parochial, religous based, or expensive to guarantee that you will get the education for your child that you are expecting. Do your research and ask the administration direct, pointed questions about Covid policies and critical race theory being taught in the school. Don’t stop there. Find a current parent and ask them. Ask teachers when administrators aren’t around. You may have to be sneaky and not disclose how you feel about these issues in order to get an untainted answer. Ask to see curriculum, browse books in the classroom and library, etc. If they don’t want you to see these materials, walk away.
Don’t sign a contract with that school unless you are sure about what they do and teach. While we are talking about contracts, make sure you read it completely and carefully. What does the school agree to? What do you agree to? Is there an “escape clause” for parents who find what is being taught offensive?
And, while we are at it, make sure that YOU as a parent, are not restricted in your right to speak about what happens at school. Believe it or not, there are private schools out there who can dismiss your child if you speak in public about what goes on there, without a refund.
What’s the alternative? If you can’t find a private school to meet your needs and expectations, your options are the public schools or homeschooling. There are public school systems that are still viable options, but your best bet is a smaller system with fewer schools and a more accessible administration.
But, don’t discount Homeschooling either. In a blog a couple of weeks ago I shared the story of a parent who never thought she would homeschool but now is loving it and her kids are thriving. This article highlights what is happening in the homeschool movement in this country right now:
As a parent in these crazy times, you have to be willing to be flexible in your choices for your child’s education. Do your research, do your homework, and always ask important questions.
Another Master Piece! Thank you.
We the people must not only stand firm but double down against the socialist/marxist agenda of the left today that has taken TEMPORARY control of our education system….At ALL levels. This will be changed by waking real people up with the true journalism in articles like this.
Thank YOU!