Comments on: National Ed Care

By: Ken Larson

Ken Larson — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:09:26 +0000

Arkanabar is not correct with the statement that Hillsdale “must turn away ALL STUDENTS with Pell Grants,…” The school makes an effort, usually successfully, to find private money so as to avoid the tentacles of government control and allow qualified students to attend. This is made abundantly clear on its web site and promotional materials and recently the policy was extended to State of Michigan grants and aid packages.

If you like Hillsdale’s spunk I’m sure their endowment people would love to talk to you about a gift.

By: Arkanabar Ilarsadin

Arkanabar Ilarsadin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:46:10 +0000

Kathryn: You are absolutely correct. In order to maintain its independence from the Federal Department of Education, Hillsdale College doesn’t just have to turn away all federal grants pushed their way. They must turn away ALL STUDENTS with Pell Grants, Guaranteed Student Loans, or ANY OTHER form of government-funded financial aid.

The only sane course of action regarding education is that suggested by the Alliance for the Separation of School and State: http://www.sepschool.org

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:59:22 +0000

I would argue that vouchers are also a bad idea because the State may get it into its head that the voucher–now tax payer funds remember!–needs to have “oversight” attached to it. I know non-Catholics who want to send their kids to Catholic schools because they offer a superior education that the public variety, but those same parents don’t want any of the “Catholic stuff” (aka, Hail Mary’s, weekly Mass) attached to it. Naturally, the parochial schools–which provide jobs for people, are willing to go along with what the parents/market wants.

If the schools start to rely on vouchers for their income, and the State decides that the schools in order to qualify need to have “inclusive” (perhaps homosexual) education, the school will certainly feel the need to comply in some fashion–just as we are seeing “Catholic” health care systems provide for abortion/contraceptive/sterilization procedures without actually doing those kids of things themselves.

It is interesting to note that neither Hillsdale College nor Grove City (I think it is Grove City) will accept students who want to use gov’t backed loans for fear of having to meet Federal gov’t “education” requirements, hiring quotas, etc.

Then, too, isn’t a voucher a little bit like the easy credit Ken Larson mentions? If enough of vouchers are floating about, won’t that eventually cause the price of private school education to got up? The axiom: “What the Market will Bear” comes to mind, espcially if not enough private schools are created to meet demand. It is a rather difficult thing to start a private school.

The only solution seems to be what many people just don’t want to say: end tax payer funded, compulsory education. Period. No “free” public school systems, no charters, no vouchers. No compulsion. The money for education should not leave the pockets of the parents. Regulations need to be changed to make it less burdensome for people who want to start schools to start them.

By: Warren Jewell

Warren Jewell — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:24:33 +0000

Amen!

As long as medicine is run for the sake of the physicians, contra their patients, and education for teachers, contra our students, we will persist at less-than-principled medical care and that alleged ‘education’. American education has become ‘conformity indoctrination’ over producing students given knowledge bases and thinking processes.

In my biography, too, unfortunately, in the nineteen-fifties and early sixties, Catholic education was already dropping the catechetical ball. In terms of my faith, I am ‘home-schooled’ – by myself.