Opposing infringement on parental control of education and promoting alternatives to government-run schools is a vital task for the liberty movement. When government usurps a parent’s right to control their child’s education, it is inevitable that the child will be taught the values of government officials, rather than of the parents. The result is an education system with a built-in bias toward statism. Over time, government-controlled education can erode the people’s knowledge of, and appreciation for, the benefits of a free society.
This is why throughout my congressional career I fought against any legislation that infringed on a parent’s right to control their child’s education, especially any legislation that limited a parent’s right to homeschool. Many so-called education experts claim that parents who are not “government-certified” educators cannot provide their children with a quality education. However, the numerous studies showing that homeschooled children out-perform their publicly-educated peers in every academic category shows that most parents are more than capable of providing their children with an excellent education.
The Internet has made it easier than ever for parents to homeschool. Because of my interest in promoting alternatives to government-controlled education, this month I am launching my own homeschool curriculum. The Ron Paul Curriculum consists of a rigorous program of study in history, economics, mathematics, and the physical and natural sciences.
Older students will also have the opportunity to gain experience creating and running their own on-line business. Frequent written assignments will ensure that students have the maximum opportunity to develop strong communication skills.
Students and parents are invited to participate in on-line interactive forums. The goal of the forums is to maximize participation so the student is not a passive recipient of information conveyed by the teachers. Instead, the students are encouraged to actively engage with their fellow students so the students can learn from each other as well as from the program’s instructors.
Of course, many of the offerings, particularly in history and economics, reflect my belief and interest in the freedom philosophy. However, unlike the pro-statist curriculum used in government-run schools, the curriculum does not place promoting an ideological agenda ahead of ensuring that students receive a quality education. The economic curriculum will cover all significant schools of economic thought, but will emphasize the free-market “Austrian” school.
Parents interested in providing their children with a quality education that incorporates knowledge of the principles of liberty will find this program a good investment. The curriculum also does not shy away from addressing the crucial role religion played in the development of western civilization. However, the materials are drafted in way that any Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or atheist parent who wants their children to receive a top-notch education incorporating the history, philosophy, and economics of liberty, can feel comfortable using the curriculum.
I expected interest in my curriculum to grow over the years, as the young people who have recently become interested in the ideas of liberty marry and start their own families. These men and women will want to make sure their children’s education includes instruction in the ideas of liberty that was lacking in their government-provided-and-controlled education.
I am excited to be able to help provide the increasing number of parents interested in homeschooling with a quality curriculum that emphasizes the history and philosophy of liberty and free-market economics of the Austrian school. For more information on my homeschool curriculum please see here. And to order a copy of my new book The School Revolution: A New Answer for Our Broken Education System, see here.
Ron Paul is a former U.S. Congressman from Texas and the leader of the pro-liberty, pro-free market movement in the United States. His weekly column – reprinted with permission – can be found here.
34 comments
Built-in bias towards statism? Oh please. I was in private schooling halfway through elementary school and then went into public schooling. There was never any sort of indoctrination or even favorable treatment towards such views. In fact, my first experience with a professor who was even remotely political in the classroom was in college, and that mostly entailed the guy bringing up global warming every now and then during the pre-class talking.
Assuming that Ron Paul is correct, though, and that a child is receiving a biased education, what is stopping the parent from teaching their kids alternative viewpoints? What is stopping a parent from giving their kids extra books to read? At-home lessons on the weekends? Tutoring? Even online courses? Somehow I doubt Ron Paul will leave public/private school students in the dark with his own online curriculum, no, he wouldn’t leave out a market like that.
One thing I will say is that Ron Paul claims he’s going to be fair to other economic theories and just focus more on Austrian stuff, but that’s a bit disingenuous. Being fair to opposing economic theories generally requires an open discussion between people who believe in differing theories and actually debating things. It sounds like he’s basically going to say “Well this is what a Keynesian would think, and here’s why he’s wrong.”
That’s not at all the kind of learning I ever experienced in public schooling, the biggest complaint I had was that classes often didn’t really delve into subjects (like economics) anywhere near what they should have. But that’s what private schooling and homeschooling do allow, it lets parents put their kids in a curriculum that can be inherently biased; religious, political, or otherwise. Heck, public schooling doesn’t prevent a child from receiving biased supplemental education outside of school.
I don’t doubt that Ron Paul’s education curriculum will be respectable, I just found the bit about statist bias a little odd.
Paul is a moron sans-pareil. the government should do absolutely nothing. no schools, no roads (paved over public lands!) no cities (where would the cattle roam?) no services of any kind if it means somebody must pay taxes. we should all just stay on our 40 acres and care for our own. fuck i cannot wait for this idiot geezer to lose his ability to type.
Paul is a typical “libertarian” in that he doesn’t think the government should perform any function other than giving HIM a paycheck.
Paul did not sign up for a congressional pension. I’m sure he made less in Congress than he would have as an OB/GYN. The field he left to go to congress. His practice refused to take medicare. occasionally offering service to the poor for free or for barter.
Wonder if he reported the barter on his income tax forms?
That’s a gut punch to the statists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=618U-_8o31k
Great find!! +5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeEWPbTad_Q
Hey, FITS, you realize ole Ron slipped a product ad past you without paying, don’t you? Or, do you know?
If there is a single soul who believes Ron Paul is for homeschooling, not just to make a buck off the simple minded, but because of the opportunity for dumbing down and indoctrination by revisionist Libertarian history to create the Paul Youth, I have this bridge. It’s right in line with his militia leanings.
BTW, attending school outside of home is a child’s first line of defense against abuse and neglect. Of course, I would be willing to bet that people who spout ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ are just the types who believe their kids are property to do with whatever they wish.
This old man is as warped an American as has lived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2OLu8zi7cI
“I would be willing to bet that people who spout ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ are just the types who believe their kids are property to do with whatever they wish.”
I’ll bet that people that spout “community” and “progress” are the type who believe others kids are their property to do with whatever they wish.
Still wacko after all these years.
Don’t stress. They make pills you can take for that.
Another propaganda piece….!!
Home schooling is really all about the homeland SECURITY issue due to the posture that our school systems have that favor centralization instead of De-centralization..!
the parable about all eggs being in one basket comes to mind….
Smirks, because you’re too dumb to notice the indoctrination being fed you, please don’t make such an igoraaaymoose presupposition about the rest of us.
Your entire second paragraph ignores the most valuable resource available in the education process, and that is time. You figure it out.
I couldn’t read all of your third paragraph, because I would’ve had to click on “see more.” Why would I want to do that to myself? Needless to say, it is certainly possible to be “fair” to another ideology all the while obliterating its foundation.
Nitrat, on the other hand, is easily ignored. He is obviously what he says Ron Paul is, which is “simple minded,” “dumbing downed” and “indoctrinated.” His claim that attending school outside the home is the “first line of defense” against abuse and neglect is exceedingly neglectful of the fact that there is a nationwide movement against bullying in schools right now, while there is no such movement when it comes to parents. A simple google news search “school hazing” will easily confirm my story.
My guess is that for both of you, either you or someone close to you, derive your income from the gubbmint schools or tax dollars of some sort. Just realize that in a free market economy, where you guys (bureaucrats) literally produce nothing, you’d be jobless.
Bravo +5
The people who produce things are involved in mining, manufacturing, and farming. Everyone else produces nothing. So, what do you produce?
rhinoceros porn
or are those warthogs?
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeEWPbTad_Q
Will, you left off Dr. Paul’s complete byline again, don’t worry though I fixed it again…
Ron Paul is a former totallyunaccomplished U.S. Congressman from the “middle of nowhere” gulf coast of Texas and the leader of the pro-liberty, pro-goofy idea, pro-free
market, pro-firm bowel movements in the United States. His weekly column – reprinted for reasons that no one can understand – can be found lining bird cages, wrapping fish and on the IPads of Paulinista’s all over the country, all 25,943 of them.
Exactly who even cares what Dr. Paul has to say these days – no one listened to him when he was actually in the game and it’s for damn sure no one will listen to the twerp now.
The internet is the solution to home schooling and home schooling is the solution to all our problems?!? Give me a freaking break. The average “no computer existed”, 1950 middle schooler was more accomplished than our high school graduates these days. Children with little more than a slate tablet were learning a far more difficult curriculum
than our precious middle schoolers with their IPads, Nexus Tablets and Google books are. Computers and the internet can certainly enhance the process but we already are suffering from children with no social skills and a complete lack of ability to interact with others.
We’ll fix our education system when we realize that most kids shouldn’t go to college and every kid needs the ability to compute mathematically and speak in and write grammatically correct sentences. Reinforcing stupidity and texting lingo won’t fix our problems. Bringing back the idea that an education prepared you to enter the work force will. We’ll fix our education system when we return to some standards for education.
The biggest advantage homeschooling has over our normal public education is that the parent can control the environment – little Johnny and Susie don’t have to worry about the gangbangers or be taught at the speed of the stupid kids. Assigning children to a curriculum by capability would allow educators to place children in an appropriate class. Ruling the school with an iron fist would eliminate the “gang banger thug wanna be” problem.
I agree. If we had you to centrally plan the education system everything would work right.
I support “The Colonel” for national education secretary!
Your motto: “Rule the school with an iron fist!”
We’ll beat the learning into these kids.
You will not find a stronger proponent of “home rule” for schools (meaning local school districts have the power, not the State or Federal Guvamint) than I am. I went to a rough jr. high in Charlotte in the early days of bussing there. Our assistant principle was the designated disciplinarian. He was an ex NBA bench warmer that ran about 6’8″ 250 and when he paddled, he hit for distance – one step afoul of the rules and regulations of that hallowed institution was enough for me. We might have had 3-4 fights in the 3 years I went there. I was never afraid to walk the halls, go into the locker room or eat lunch in the cafeteria.
The students were polite to teachers even if they couldn’t have cared less about the subject at hand because the consequences for failure to do so were significant. No one was suspended for anything other than egregious violations but you’d find yourself picking up trash during your lunch period in a heart beat for failure to submit to the admittedly even then, reasonable rules. That same attitude ruled East Meck when I started there. By the time I graduated, I was in Atlanta where the inmates ruled the asylum. Shortly after I graduated, the school got so bad that they closed it to break up one of the neighborhoods (operative word here is hood) that fed it.
Which “principle” was he? Was it each action has an equal and opposite reaction?
Should have paid attention that day, he was of course the assistant “principal” – who taught values and “principles” by applying physical “principles” such as angular momentum to the science of adjusting the attitudes of posteriors.
ummmm;that’s hot
My ass sure was after that paddle got on it – I can assure you there was absolutely nothing sexual about it in any way though 9″
Considering most if not all of the bills Dr. Paul authored were to
restore the Constitutional limits on the government, restore our
liberty, and the fact that most of this never saw the light of day, says
a lot about the other members of congress.
Knowing that they are still paying taxes for the government option, why shouldn’t a concerned parent be able to home school their child instilling values and a knowledge base that are lacking in the public alternative while still meeting and most likely exceeding curriculum standards? Parents nationwide have voiced their complaints but the wheels of government are too slow or unwilling to address the problems. So today’s parents should be willing to forfeit their child’s future in a competitive global market because the powers that be have decided it’s time for the US to step down so other countries can step up? Home schooling isn’t the purview of the rich, who will send their children to private schools regardless. Let the average family who are willing to make the sacrifices do what they feel they need to do while the government finally figures it out, if ever…. Alternative thought and behavior is usually championed in the US, except when it comes to rocking the boat of sub-par public education.
I do not understand your point. No one is preventing parents from home schooling their children. They are perfectly free to choose to homeschool their children.
Hahahahahahahahahaha!
Ron Paul is a typical wacko teabugger. sic(k) willie generally posts this kind of foolishness right after getting a payment from Howie the Voucher Clown.
What a wacko.
The hell w/vouchers,gumnint education,and everything.I’m sick of educating dumbass straight peoples’ spawn.
Give the kids acid,and let them listen to Led Zeppelin.Turn it up real loud.Mom,dad,brats:Shut Up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRBsgRYPR-4
A HOMESCHOOLING REVOLUTION AND A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES
Do something R E A L
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFqBp3rfTTc