Peter Konetchy on Education

Support optional teacher-led prayer in public schools

A: Support if participation by the students in class is optional.

Support parents choosing schools via vouchers

A: Strongly Support.

Teach students that our rights are God-given

What has happened to our public schools to make them fail?
1. Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty has ended up creating a dependant class of people who have been conditioned to expect others to care for them.
2. The curriculum has been consistently dumbed down.
3. Our schools are encouraging a sense of irresponsibility by not insisting upon the achievement of minimum proficiency standards.
4. We need to teach a sense of pride in our country. Our schools often downplay the greatness of the United States in that:
   • The Pledge of Allegiance is often ignored;
   • Free markets, prosperity, and achievement are equated with greediness;
   • it's explained that industry and production generate pollution;
   • Students are taught that a free society is naturally unfair;
   • We cannot recognize our rights as God given;
   • Personal liberty and responsibility are de-emphasized while public programs are extolled.

Replace federal intervention with local controls & vouchers

1. Remove the federal government from education and return authority to local communities and states. There is no constitutional authority for federal interference in education.
2. We must allow local school boards to fire under performing teachers and reward exceptional performance.
3. Encourage a variety of charter or private schools offering different areas of focus and interest.
4. It is the student's responsibility to perform, and the parent's responsibility to monitor their children's performance. A voucher system would allow the parents to choose the school they feel is best suited for their children.