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John Dewey—the father of the present educational system in America—stated in his book, Living Philosophies (1930),

“There is no God, there is no soul. Hence there are no needs for…traditional religion…truth is dead…There is no room for fixed natural law or permanent moral absolutes.”

(Biblical Solutions to Contemporary Problems, R. Walton, p. 136)

With such ideas being the foundation of modern education, is it any wonder “Johnny can’t read”; and drugs, immorality, and suicide are epidemics in America’s public schools? In spite of the effort of many Christians who teach in our local schools, the devastation worsens each year. Is there any hope for public education in America? Yes! But the road back will be one of the most difficult things ever tackled.

The root of America’s education problem is that it has left the Biblical method of education. How can the Bible be restored as America’s “basic textbook in all fields”, as Noah Webster said? Only by returning the control of the public school to the local community. This means cutting it completely loose from all tax support! Get the state and federal governments out of it! Let the local community completely control it by funding it through voluntary donations. Then—and only then—will the quality of education go up again.

Will most people want to do that right now? No. So I believe some preliminary steps must first be taken.

Number one, we must have revival in our local churches so they again return to teaching that the Bible teaches a method for education. God told parents in Deuteronomy, “…you shall teach them to your children,” referring to His commandments (Deuteronomy 11:19). There is no time to expand on this, but it is the most important step in correcting education in America.

Number two; recognize that God gives children to parents, not to the state. Parents are called to educate their children; thus, they are given the right to control that education. Many parents should be homeschooling who are not now doing it. Homeschooled children are now the group most sought after by colleges because they are the best students, and the best prepared for the discipline college requires.

While it’s true that a few parents simply cannot homeschool, due to their circumstances, this can be fixed easily enough. Dame schools were how this was taken care of in America’s past. A dame school is simply a homeschool mother taking in a few other children and educating them alongside her own. For this ministry the parents of those extra children she is teaching pay her.

Another possibility is private schools, most of which are related to some church. While cost can be a problem with these schools, they are definitely a help in this educational war.

By these methods, we can model how much better parental education is than state controlled education. In time, this will help open the eyes of the general population to the need to return education to the local community; which indeed, was how it was originally done in America.

The great Reformer, Martin Luther, summed up the parent’s responsibility in educating their children when he said,

“I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth.

“I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign [supreme]. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.”

(Luther, Martin. R. Flood, The Rebirth of America (Philadelphia: Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986), p. 127.)

Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.