Luz Shosie and Ned Vare

on 8/6/02 3:31 PM, [email protected] at
[email protected] wrote:

Tia wrote, in reference to one of my posts:
> Actually . . . there's a Sudbury Valley type school in North Vancouver that
> is publicly funded, has been for years now.
>
> You're probably right in general that they need to be privately funded in
> order to work, but it's these absolute statements that keep putting me
> off.

Ned answers:

It was Thomas Jefferson who wrote that forcing people to pay for things that
violate their beliefs [like state-funded churches} is tyranny. (sorry, I
can't locate the exact quote)

It's a reasonable objection -- and many people have it -- that forcing
people to pay for (or accept) things that go against their beliefs or best
judgment is bad government. Public schools do that to almost everyone. If
there's public funding for a private school whose program goes against the
wishes of many people, then the funding is a form of tyranny -- strictly
speaking -- because many people are forced to pay for it who wouldn't do it
voluntarily. Public schools do that to almost everyone.

Thirty years ago, I was involved with a group that wanted the local public
school system to fund our new, innovative private school. (This was in
Aspen, Colorado and I was even on the city council) Our proposal was not
accepted and the families (most of whom were wealthy) had to pay for their
own children's schooling all by themselves, or with private help. That was
(is) how it should be.

Since I've come to what I jokingly call my senses, politically, and am a
libertarian, I have been ashamed of being in a group asking the government
(taxpayers) to fund a private activity. Not the least of what's wrong with
it is the fact that the government will always want to control it, and if
it's a school, that means *make it like its other schools -- rotten.*

Ned Vare

Tia Leschke

>
>It was Thomas Jefferson who wrote that forcing people to pay for things that
>violate their beliefs [like state-funded churches} is tyranny. (sorry, I
>can't locate the exact quote)
>
>It's a reasonable objection -- and many people have it -- that forcing
>people to pay for (or accept) things that go against their beliefs or best
>judgment is bad government. Public schools do that to almost everyone.

I don't think that's true. From what I've seen, the vast majority of
people support the public schools, even a large percentage of
homeschoolers. They may not like the way the schools do things, but most
don't want to get rid of them.

>If
>there's public funding for a private school whose program goes against the
>wishes of many people, then the funding is a form of tyranny -- strictly
>speaking -- because many people are forced to pay for it who wouldn't do it
>voluntarily. Public schools do that to almost everyone.

I'm not sure what this means. The example I gave was not a private school
with public funding. It's a public school. There was a similar one for
many years in Victoria. In some places Montessori or Waldorf schools are
publically funded. I don't have a problem with any of that. If we're
going to have public schools at all (and I'm aware you don't agree with
that) then I'd say the more choices of educational styles the better.
Tia


What you think of me is none of my business.
*********************************************************
Tia Leschke leschke@...
On Vancouver Island