Socialist Roots of Modern Education

Twenty-seven years ago, in 1993, Americans were stunned to learn that nearly 90 million Americans had such poor literacy skills that they could scarcely cope with the demands of our high-tech economy. Imagine the lack of literacy today, after nearly 11 years of Common Core State Standards implemented in 48 states in 2009.

Sixty-four percent of all eighth-grade students are unable to read proficiently, according to the National Assessment of Education Progress’ (NAEP) latest report. Eighty-two percent of black students and 77 percent of Hispanic students are not reading proficiently. More than 44 million Americans cannot read or write above a third-grade level. Fifty percent of adults cannot read a book at an 8th grade level, and there is plenty of evidence to believe these statistics may be low. Even fifty percent of college grads are considered barely literate enough to read and understand this blog.

How did we get to this point and just how bad is it? Consider the case of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller who was a functional illiterate only a heartbeat away from the presidency. Every time Gerald Ford's vice president was to give a speech, he’d take written notes to the podium, then set them aside, and make some excuse for speaking from his heart. Nelson Rockefeller couldn't read a lick. Guess who read to him throughout his Vice Presidency? None other than Henry Kissinger.

Leaders in the progressive education movement were able to convince his father, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., that he ought to give his sons a good progressive education. They convinced him to donate three million dollars to Columbia University's Lincoln School, a new experiment in social education in accordance with John Dewey’s radical socialist ideas. So, Jr. put Nelson, Laurence, Winthrop, and David in the school, which turned them all into dyslexics, demonstrating that progressive reading programs do cause dyslexia. They were all functional illiterates as a result of the progressive socialist look-say reading programs. There wasn’t a one of them who could properly read. Barbara Bush and several of her sons were the products of the very same education with the very same results.

Dewey’s movement, beginning in the 1880's, was based on his new vision for schools. He wanted to use schools as instruments for the reconstruction of society. Dewey didn’t want to educate children to think for themselves: “Children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society which is coming where everyone is interdependent.” His vision veered dramatically from the traditional Christian-centered approach to education.

Dewey stated that the only way to undermine the capitalist system was to get rid of the emphasis primary schools placed upon the development of high literacy and independent intelligence. According to Dewey, “It is one of the great mistakes of education to make reading and writing constitute the bulk of the school work the first two years. The plea for the predominance of learning to read in early school life because of the great importance attaching to literature seems to me a perversion.”

Dewey’s direction was based on using government schools; minimizing the role of parents (because they might teach things like religion); changing the role of teachers to facilitators; de-emphasizing Latin, the classics, the three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic), western history, and history in general (including the study of the Constitution and capitalism); and providing a secular environment. The end product was designed to prepare students to be good citizens in a socialist society (students who don’t read very well or think very well for themselves).

Thus we have the roots of what we find in American schools today. Making Americans illiterate is a key factor in the dumbing down of the American population. Dewey’s attack on the primary school’s emphasis on teaching children to read had its desired result. Back in those days they readily admitted they were socialists, and people ignored them; as products of Dewey's system of instruction many in Congress openly admit their socialist beliefs today.

Today’s college snowflakes cannot bear to be offended; they are totally unlike the young men who rushed the beaches of Normandy where many fell to their deaths. Learning disabilities have grown exponentially because of Dewey’s progressive education. Socialism and communitarianism have grown to be acceptable to a majority of young people, especially those who attend colleges or universities these days.

Dewey surely wouldn’t have wanted students reading the Declaration of Independence, as it mentions the Almighty four times, nor would he have wanted the Constitution taught, which guarantees our God-given freedoms. Both are anathema to Dewey’s socialist society.

Even today, entrusting our children to most government schools guarantees they will not be able to read, do math, write properly, spell, or get a fundamental academic education. Sacrificing our children to a progressive philosophy sacrifices our future.