***The Iowa Standard is an independent media voice. We rely on the financial support of our readers to exist. Please consider a one-time sign of support or becoming a monthly supporter at $5, $10/month - whatever you think we're worth! If you’ve ever used the phrase “Fake News” — now YOU can actually DO something about it! You can also support us on PayPal at [email protected] or Venmo at Iowa-Standard-2018 or through the mail at: PO Box 112 Sioux Center, IA 51250

Conservative Iowa moms and dads need to really think about the education of their children. All Iowa moms and dads should, but the deck certainly isn’t stacked against liberal Iowa moms and dads like it is those who are conservative.

We really need to have a “come to Jesus” debate about an issue that has blown up in the last few years — government education.

I am fortunate to have experienced pretty much every possible education avenue available. I am a product of Des Moines Public Schools. I attended a community college and then a private college. My wife obtained a Christian education. My oldest son went to a Christian school until Christmas break of first grade. Now we homeschool our four kids.

The first thing I want to make clear is there are good people involved in all three options. There are good people at public schools. There are good people at private schools. There are great people who homeschool.

Just like every child is unique, so too is every family. What works for one kid may not work for another. And what works for one family may not work for another.

That’s fine.

But here we are in 2021 watching as kids are indoctrinated into Critical Race Theory, a radical LGBTQ movement and forced to wear a mask regardless of what mom or dad wants.

Prayer was taken out of public schools decades ago. They haven’t been trending the right direction ever since.

Now, again, this doesn’t mean there aren’t good teachers in public schools. This doesn’t mean there aren’t good public schools. Please understand that.

But when we’re talking about government education, we’re talking about the system — not the individuals involved in the system. And if you are a Christian or a conservative, the system does not share your beliefs. At all.

In fact, the system is hostile toward them.

Look at all the stories The Iowa Standard has done in the last year or two about teachers or professors who express their radical beliefs on social media and/or in the classroom. One story comes to mind of a teacher expressing conservative beliefs in the school setting. One.

Otherwise, it is seemingly always radical leftist teachers who are doing the political proselytizing.

And we shouldn’t be surprised. We have educators educating today’s students who were educated by Marxists when they were students. Why wouldn’t they be radical political leftists? And why wouldn’t they think it is almost some sort of duty to share their radical ideas with their students?

In the world of academia, liberal radicalism is the norm.

I could list the examples of this crisis, but you would never get through the entire list. Every day it seems I am contacted by a parent somewhere in Iowa to tell me about what this teacher is doing or this school is doing.

Often people will assume the sort of things we write about and they read about don’t happen in their small-town school. Those problems of indoctrination only take place in Ames, Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, etc.

But the reality is it is happening all across the state. And the reason is that it is systemic. Sure, some teachers push their individual beliefs and agenda on the kids, but the government school system is set up in such a way that it is hostile toward sanity and partial toward liberalism.

Not everyone is a Christian, but if you are, allow me to remind you of the verse in Proverbs:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Teaching, learning and understanding the fear of God is the beginning — BEGINNING — of wisdom. Yet we send millions of kids to a place each day to gain wisdom where they can’t teach about the Lord at all — let alone the fear of Him.

And yes, the parents can teach the child about the fear of the Lord at home and the pastor can teach the child about the fear of the Lord at church, but what system has the most influence over a child?

The one they spend time with for a few hours in the evenings and during weekends? The one they spend an hour in on Sunday and maybe an hour in on Wednesday night? Or the one where they are educated eight, nine, ten hours a day, five days a week for nine months out of the year from the time they’re in preschool to the time they are 18, 20 or 22 years old?

And again, this isn’t to say every influence placed in your child’s life in a government education situation will be bad. Many may be good.

But once an idea is introduced to a child, you can’t un-introduce it.

It was outstanding to see the increased energy and participation in local elections this year. It was awesome to see so many conservatives stand up and run for school board.

But I won’t lie, in the back of my mind was always this thought that even if a school board flipped from liberal to conservative, that energy and momentum must be sustained every election moving forward and — even then — the people doing the educating are not going to change regardless of the results of an election.

The system isn’t changing. The deck is still stacked against Christian moms and dads. It’s still stacked against conservative parents.

This isn’t to minimize the importance of being involved in government education. It matters. And considering how much you pay in taxes to fund it, you should be involved.

But the real solution to the education crisis may be a drastic one. Yet it would be entirely worth it.

Nothing will help correct the course America as significantly as correcting education would. Every future aspect of life is influenced by what is happening today in classrooms. Every single one.

And values become collective whether we like it or not.

Every government school in Iowa has the same policy with regards to whether a boy who thinks he is a girl can use the girl’s restroom or not — they can. Same with girls who believe they are boys.

Every single one.

Same with locker rooms for Physical Education.

Does that idea align with your values and beliefs? Are you comfortable knowing a 40-year-old man who thinks he is a woman may well be using the bathroom stall next to your 6-year-old daughter the next time you attend an event at a government school building?

The solution to many of our problems could be found, I believe, if we truly fix our education system.

This may mean allowing it to collapse on itself. It may mean there must be a mass exodus of Christian families and conservative families who no longer send their children to a building where the values and beliefs driving the system diametrically oppose the values and beliefs taught in the home and at church.

It may come with pain. It may come with sacrifice.

But I assure you — your children are worth every last pain or every last sacrifice you may experience.

I cannot say this enough, so I’ll say it once more. There are still great people who work at government schools. There are great people who are products of government schools.

But again, we’re not talking about individual schools or individual teachers — we’re talking about the system.

And we have systemic indoctrination. It is happening every single day.

To quote Voddie Baucham Jr:

“We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.”

Our children are our most valuable, prized possessions. Nothing matters more in this world than they do.

I hope you’ve been able to read this with a humble heart and an open mind. It may be challenging. It may be convicting.

But I hope it is something you will prayerfully consider. Ultimately, parents know best. Parents, not the system, not educators, not school boards — but PARENTS — know what is best for their children.

So pray about it. Study God’s Word on it. Forget about all the reasons why it won’t work and ponder the possibilities of making it work.

Author: Jacob Hall

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here