OPINION: Privatizing education is ‘freedumb,’ not freedom

Indoctrination: “The process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.” (source: Oxford Languages).

Critical thinking skills are not as easy to teach as they once were, partly because of the social media sewer that ferments all kinds of outlandish mental waste into a mind-blinding addictive stew.

At one point, for example, it was falsely claimed through internet trolling and fearmongering that public schools were providing litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identified as cats. This hoax started as a joke and spread like wildfire. This type of absurd falsehood is humorous until gullible “uncritical” thinkers believe it’s true. This is a form of indoctrination for them.

Bad actors exist in all systems and can become an excuse for broad generalizations. The idea that “one bad apple spoils the bunch” has always irritated me. Just because some knuckleheads within a system do something stupid does not mean that all schools, churches, government agencies, businesses, social media platforms, etc. are bad and should be destroyed. Generalization is not critical thinking. When bad ideas are institutionalized through governmental action, it’s time for some serious critical thinking. We have several bad ideas brewing in Idaho that include palpable institutionalized indoctrination.

Privatizing education by funding corporate and religious schools with taxpayer dollars via tax credits is one such bad idea that smacks of corporate welfare and indoctrination. The term representing this diversion of money from public to private schools is “school choice,” a misnomer and an intentional smokescreen since the choice already exists. Indoctrination may go unchecked because private schools can teach whatever they want without the curricular control or other standards required of public schools. Even Idaho House Bill 10, limiting which flags can be displayed in a school, applies only to public schools. Therefore, public funding of any corporate or religious private school is unacceptable. I am not opposed to religion, churches or church schools, but teach your children religion at home and not by funneling off public tax dollars. Take them to church with you and instill in them your religious values because that is your discretion as a parent and not a function of government.

Like any other business, churches are worried because of declining “customer” numbers. Apparently indoctrination using public dollars is one of their business plans, although such funding is prohibited by the Idaho State Constitution. Christian nationalists want the U.S. to be declared a Christian nation, and they support policies promoting Christian teachings in public schools. This is indoctrination. Their self-declared “spiritual warfare” pits good against evil. Of course, they decide what’s evil, and that might be anyone or anything contrary to their agenda or form of religion.

Corporations can’t wait to get their hands on the educational system and divert our tax dollars into their pockets. Large amounts of money from outside of Idaho are spent to influence citizens and politicians and change government policy. Beware when they sell their ideas as “Idaho values.” This is just another misnomer designed to mislead and indoctrinate.

The American Federation for Children, the State Policy Network, for which the Idaho Freedom Foundation is a think tank, and its affiliate, the American Legislative Exchange Council, have deep-pocket donors. Corporations back ALEC, which drafts model legislation favorable to them.

Critical thinkers might ask: “Why are they spending all of this money in Idaho, and where is the money coming from?” The saying “You gotta spend money to make money” comes to mind. Billionaires and corporations are looking, with dollar signs in their eyes, at education as an industry ripe for the picking and are exerting influence on politicians and voters to take it over.

PragerU, not a university or an institution of education as its name might imply, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservative advocacy and media organization. It convinced the Idaho Department of Education to approve its materials statewide as a free supplemental curriculum. This is a curriculum promoting a particular political and religious interest. How is this any different from allowing liberal “woke” curricula that some claim currently exist? School curricula should stick to the facts.

It’s not freedom if we are told we can’t openly discuss our history. It’s not freedom when our government picks one religion or political interest to teach. That is indoctrination. On the flip side, comparative religion classes, discussion of Christianity or other religions as they relate to our country and teaching about slavery, Native American issues or the Holocaust are not examples of indoctrination. Granted, teaching should not be about intentionally assigning guilt based on our past. If a teacher says you should feel guilty about our history, that’s a bad actor and not systematized indoctrination. If you feel guilty without being goaded, then that’s on you.

Educational programs should not smooth over the rough spots in our history just to make us feel good, as the PragerU curriculum tends to do. We cannot and should not deny the facts of our past. It’s not freedom if we are told we can’t discuss our history and understand its context.

Do you want freedom or freedumb?

Gee, of Lewiston, is a retired special education teacher.