How Idaho Can Be at the Forefront of an Educational Renaissance. By Samuel T. Lair (11/19/24)
Author Samuel Lair posits:
The purpose of educational freedom is not simply to produce schools that cost less to maintain and get better test results. Our public schools are failing because their underlying educational philosophy is inherently flawed. If all school choice accomplished is the creation of privatized versions of the status quo, then they would fail, too.
We do not just need new schools; we need an entirely different approach towards education…
He states that most public schools currently espouse two main philosophies: One is in the business of cultural Marxist indoctrination, and the other is in workforce development (think Idaho Launch grant program).
Lair proposes a different (and, we think, better) paradigm in which the true purpose of education in a republic is to create citizens capable of self-government. He points out the stark difference between creating self-reliant citizens and “workforce development.”
Fortunately, interest is growing in classical education, which focuses on developing the whole person by cultivating intellectual and moral virtue. Classical education teaches foundational knowledge rooted in Western civilization, from the geometric proofs of Euclid to the tragedies of Shakespeare.
Lair says this classical education approach requires minimal effort by the state. The legislature need not manage some “blandly named initiative or expand our state’s education bureaucracy to achieve it.”
His conclusion:
All Idaho must do to be at the forefront of this renaissance is stop subjecting millions in public funds to the arbitrary whim of whatever bureaucrat decides what careers are “in demand” and have the government step aside.
Allow the money to follow the student and let parents decide whether they would rather their children “identify Idaho’s role in the global economy” or develop good moral character and civic virtue.
Related:
Hillsdale Classical K-12 Education: k12.hillsdale.edu/About…
Hillsdale Classical Affiliate Schools: k12.hillsdale.edu/Schoo…
PragerU Kids (curriculum recently approved for Idaho): prageru.com/kids/browse
Umbrellas, Community Schools, United Way & School Board Meetings:
