“Public” Education was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1647. His parents were the “Ole Deluder Satan Act” and the Bible. Early in his life, his mother and his dad taught him the value of a good spiritually-based and academically-based education. As a result, they stressed that God and Judeo-Christian values must be at the center of any viable educational program. Without them, students would have to lean to their own understanding of education and life in general. As recorded in Proverbs 3: 4-7 by King David’s son Solomon,

4So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Ultimately, the essence of these scriptures is the reason “Public” Education’s mother wanted to have a child like him. He would be responsible for helping other people to depart from evil, that is, if he could get them to accept the ideals that were taught to him by his parents.

“Public” Education was reasonably successful in his goal to get people to depart from evil and to obtain an extremely good amount of knowledge. He was even responsible for promoting prayer, the pledge to the American flag, and even recognition of the Bible in the early schools on a daily basis. However, all this changed in the early 1960s. It was then that his life was changed forever. In 1962, his mother was murdered by “Engel v. Vitale.” One year later, his father was murdered by “Murray v. Curlett.” As a result, “Public” Education would now be left alone to defend for himself against the evils of society that would attempt to hinder his ability to acquire large amounts of learned knowledge. As a result, he might possibly be misguided by ideological beliefs in the future that might destroy his personal Judeo-Christian value system, which, as you will see, actually happened to him. His mindset changed from conservatism to progressive liberalism.

Unfortunately, for the past forty-seven years, “Public” Education has encountered continual attacks from the fiery darts of Satan and from progressive ideologists. As a result, every godly tradition and value that his mother, the “Ole Deluder Satan Act,” and his father, the Bible, taught him from his childhood days have all but vanished. In fact, at present, true unadulterated learning has become a thing of the past in America’s school systems. There are just too many obstacles that stand in the way of “Public” Education as he attempts to help students to gain acquired knowledge in what used to be the greatest school systems in the world.

What are some of the major obstacles that “Public” Education is facing? First, since the death of his parents, “Public” Education seemingly does not have the ability to maintain proper classroom discipline in the classroom. Too many students do not live by the same traditions and values that “Public” Education used to live by. They constantly attempt to keep the classroom environment in an uproar, which makes many postmodern school classrooms not conducive for learning. When this occurs, the other students in the classroom are not able to focus on their assignments. These students who were distracted throughout the school day leave their respective classrooms without achieving the academic goals of their teacher and their parents. Also, their own personal academic goals are not met. But, sometimes, it takes an act of Congress to get some students’ parents to realize how much their children cause distractions in their classroom. Of course, since schools in the United States are government-controlled, it is extremely difficult to remove such students from the classroom without warning after warning, office referral after office referral. However, at times, discipline referrals do not work, since everyone but the teacher and his/her distracted students have a voice in the operation of their school classroom. Therefore, constant interruptions in classrooms across America will prevent high student achievement.

Second, since the death of his parents, “Public” Education seemingly does not have the ability to stop the bullies who threaten and torment students on a regular basis in America’s schools. Normally, students who are academically gifted or smaller in size are the students who are confronted by bullies. How then can students concentrate on the main reason they attend school, if they fear for their life every time they arrive on campus? Well, in reality, they cannot be effective in the classroom when they use most of the day to strategically plan their escape route to their home in order to avoid a bully. Even though most schools have signs on their doors that promise serious consequences for anyone who attempts to bully another student, it is still a serious problem on most school campuses. In the past few years, many of the students who have been killed on school campuses were killed by the students who were being bullied. In fact, this is probably one of the two main reasons why students bring guns on campus; they fear for their life, since they have been constantly threatened by a bully. Of course, the other reason would be the threat from gang violence on the campus. Therefore, bullying from one individual or from a large gang will prevent high student achievement.

Third, since the death of his parents, “Public” Education seemingly does not have the ability to increase the level of learning in minds that have been destroyed by the regular use of various types of legal and illegal drugs and alcohol. Years ago, a commercial advertising the Black College Fund stated that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” However, millions of students who walk the halls of America’s middle and high schools and attend the sundry of classes have destroyed their brains to the point that they have a low capacity to comprehend and retain academic knowledge. As a result, they do not try while they are in school or they just drop out early. Of course, dropping out of school prior to graduation would negatively affect these students economically for the rest of his/her life. Also, the American labor force would have less educated and more unskilled workers. It will also cause serious social and emotional problems that may cause the dropout to become another person who needs his own personal survival bailout from some type of government subsistence program. Therefore, the use of drugs and alcohol by school age students will prevent high student achievement.

Fourth, since the death of his parents, “Public” Education seemingly does not have the ability to prevent the sexual immorality that occurs daily on the campuses of America’s government-controlled schools, whether it is heterosexual and/or homosexual couples. It just does not matter to them. These students live in the immediate, self-gratification period of history. They have grown up to believe that anything goes. They have no conservative values. They have adopted the value system followed by the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah, which everyone knows was destroyed by God for their wickedness. They also have adopted a value system that rejects the moral commandments of the Lord God Jehovah. Their minds are consumed with lusts and immorality. They have no place for academic learning on a regular basis. They live for the moment. Therefore, the lusts of the flesh and sexual immorality which is dominant in many school age children will prevent high student achievement.

Fifth, since the death of his parents, “Public” Education seemingly does not have the ability to prevent the building of monstrous mazes to house America’s school population. When “Public” Education encounters several thousand students each day who have a myriad of personal and cultural issues, he can only expect these issues to ignite serious problems within the halls of America’s schools. Of course, when too many students rub elbows in a school setting, too many problems will spillover into the classrooms, too. Ultimately, when too many nonacademic problems spillover into the learning environment, much less learning takes place, unless a student is highly self-motivated and the teacher is able to block out most of the distractions that he/she deals with on a regular basis. Therefore, postmodern school buildings, which are too large and too crowded, will prevent high student achievement.

Finally, since the death of his parents, “Public Education seemingly does not have the ability to prevent the increased verbal and physical persecution of Christian students in the halls and classrooms of America’s government-controlled schools. Diversity and tolerance are taught regularly in American schools. However, when it comes down to it, diversity and tolerance are directed toward every religion and every group of people in schools, except Christian students who supposedly represent 90 percent of America’s religious community. But, in the age of politically correctness, Christian students have been targeted by non-Christians. As a result of ongoing religious persecution, many Christian students have had to take a backseat to other religions that are in the minority in America’s schools, religions that do not believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Only Begotten Son and the Savior of all mankind. Therefore, religious persecution toward Christian students or, for that matter, any student will prevent high student achievement.

What is the solution to the problems associated with postmodern school environments that propagate a low rate of learning and low test scores each and every year? According to President Obama, an investment of $900 million dollars will stem the dropout problem in America, which is direct offshoot from all the aforementioned problems in schools that hinder the learning process. However, he may need to earmark $900 billion dollars to address the problem. Of course, in the long run, money is not the solution. The solution would center on a Great Awakening in the operational procedures and value systems promoted in America’s schools. This Great Awakening would require a rebirth or resurrection of the “Ole Deluder Satan Act” and the Bible in America’s troubled classrooms. Ultimately, when “Public” Education once again grasps hold of the ideals and principles established in the early 1600s by Christian parents and Christian leaders, it will once again see the transformation of America’s classrooms into learning environments guided by the invisible hand of God. As a result, student achievement in American schools would finally return to its high level of achievement.

P.S. Martin Luther, the Father of the Protestant Reformation, made a provocative and yet truthful statement in1537 that relates to public schools. He said, “I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of the youth.”

Dr. Carl Sterling Parnell
Christian Educator, Author, and Columnist
http://drcarlsterlingparnell.wiki.zoho.com