OPINION:
CHICAGO — Pro-Palestinian — pro-Hamas! — protesters-slash-agitators flooded the outskirts of the Democrat National Convention in Chicago, demanding Democrats stop supporting Israel; legalize all the illegals; open borders wider for more; legalize abortion-on-demand, tax-paid, too; decrease funding for police — or, as the agitators screamed in bullhorns in the face of police, the “piggy, piggy” cops — and oh, yes, recognize rights for the LGBTQ crowd.
Welcome to the world of Democrat-run public education.
“From the rivers to the sea, Palestine will be free” — yet nobody knows what river, what sea. Nobody can place Palestine on a map. Nobody can explain what a Palestinian is, historically speaking.
But “Palestine will live forever,” they promise.
And speaking of promises — this is what Democrats put on their webpage as a party platform: “Providing a world-class education in every ZIP code.”
Yikes.
Democrats have had their run of public education for decades now. And America is feeling the results — or, more to the truth, America is reeling from the results.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for International Student Assessment of 15-year-old students around the world, the United States “placed 16th out of 81 countries in science” in 2022 and “much worse in math, ranking 34th.”
That’s just one test.
That’s just one testing agency.
Foundation for Economic Education reported the average Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, scores fell 41 points between 1972 and 1991, while only 6 percent of 11th graders in 1986 could use basic algebra.
And in a direct nod to the DNC protesters: “Sixty percent did not know why ‘The Federalist’ was written, 75 percent didn’t know when Lincoln was president, and [only] one in five knew what Reconstruction was,” FEE wrote.
That’s civics. That’s history. That’s ye olde “those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it” playing in real DNC-protesting time.
The fact is there’s not one parent in America who needs a research paper or essay or data set or analysis to tell what’s obvious: The schools are failing in their core duty — to teach.
Kids are coming out of school with the idea America is to blame for all the world’s ills; capitalism is discriminatory and drives poverty; the Founding Fathers were racist, and therefore the governing documents they created are inherently racist and ought to be destroyed and replaced with a new system — a New World Constitution, for instance, more akin to socialism and communism; and ideas such as free speech and free assembly and freedom to protect self and family via a Second Amendment are not just archaic, but dangerous, in need of regulation. And who better to control than the government?
Such is the rot our youth are being fed.
Yay, government-run schools. Yay, teachers unions, the lifeblood of the Democrat Party.
“$30 million over four years: How teachers unions influence Illinois politicians,” one Wirepoints headline ran in April, above a story about the more than 1.2 million public school students who couldn’t read at grade level, despite the $24,000-plus of tax dollars that are spent in the state’s public schools per student.OpenSecrets reported teachers unions have contributed more than $26 million to candidates in the 2024 election cycle so far — 98.24 percent to Democrats versus .99 percent, or less than one percent, to Republicans. That’s a percentage that hasn’t wavered much through the years.
Democrats do love their teachers unions. And the teachers unions do love their Democrats. If only they’d love their students as much — as half as much, even. Perhaps there wouldn’t be so many ignorant youth in the streets of the Democrat convention screaming about things they don’t understand and calling for things they couldn’t possibly enjoy if they received them. Could you imagine all the LGBTQ flag-wavers living under Hamas rule?
“As Democrats, we believe that education is a critical public good — not a commodity — and this it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that every child, everywhere, is able to receive a world-class education that enables them to lead meaningful lives, no matter their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability status, language status, immigration or citizenship status, household income, or ZIP code,” the Democrats wrote, at Democrats.org.
That’s quite a list.
Let’s narrow it down to this: It’s the parents’ responsibility.
The government has had its chance. The government has failed. The streets are filled with evidence of the government’s public education failures. And just one more point to keep in mind before heading to the polls this November.
Donald Trump wants to dismantle the federal Department of Education.
That’s step one toward a brighter American future.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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