Public Schools Unsafe at Any Price: German Style

The nightmares at Columbine and Santana high schools in the United States, along with the new Columbine-like tragedy in Germany, may mark a turning point, as did the John F. Kennedy assassination.

The assassination, however, prolonged a myth while the school massacres may be ending one.

The lie of the Kennedys' perfect presidential family – which the assassination prolonged – ushered in the sexual revolution, whereas the ending of Clinton's lying presidential family coincided with the end of the myth of "the good American education."

Maybe with the German tragedy, Europe will realize that the good American public education model is a lie.

Market researcher C. Britt Beemer thinks the "Columbine factor" has changed our country's mindset. His surveys show that 70 percent of parents now think danger in schools will continue to increase. "Informed parents" are also dissatisfied with the drugs, peer pressure and poor teaching in public schools.

Beemer sees a trend toward single-income families, with one parent working and one parent homeschooling the kids.

After 50 years of feminist propaganda, parents appear to be realizing that children are smarter and healthier when they spend more time with them.

After 150 years of education propaganda, parents are beginning to see public schools as unfit for the moral and intellectual development of their kids, in addition to being unsafe.

John Taylor Gatto, former New York City and State Teacher of the Year, documents how the education system purposely has created a mass of illiterates.

Gatto's book, "The Underground History of American Education," demonstrates that in 1840 – before public education – 93 percent to 100 percent of both poor and rich had "complex literacy."

But since "compulsory" schools began, each succeeding generation has become more illiterate. After World War II – with increased funding to public schools – black illiteracy doubled and white illiteracy quadrupled.

Please note: The increased funding to public schools was followed by "dumbing down," which was followed by violence.

Justice Department records show that violent criminals are overwhelmingly (80 percent) illiterate. As illiteracy increased after World War II, so did crime, out-of-wedlock births quadrupled, and in the '60s "bizarre violence ... became common."

Gatto documents that throwing money at education is a waste unless certain instituted changes are reversed. The first "well-documented" change to produce illiteracy was the American schools' massive conversion to "non-phonetic ways of teaching reading."

Then the '60s began the schools' replacement of morality and discipline with reinforcement schedules. There was no right or wrong, only the sterile therapeutic concepts of "positive and negative reinforcement" to maintain the "social order."

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why "bizarre violence ... became common" in the '60s.

As the bizarre psychology of "planned smiles," "stern looks," "self-esteem" and "aggression management" replaced the Ten Commandments, school security guards and metal detectors became a growth industry.

And teachers who were true educators, like Jaime Escalante of "Stand and Deliver" fame and teachers of the year like John Gatto, were weeded out. (Look these two educators up on the Internet – they were both forced out.) We all can remember two or three good teachers like Escalante and Gatto, but they were the exceptions, not the rule.

If it is true, as Gatto with overwhelming evidence shows in his book, that the education system is purposely creating a mass of illiterates; and if it is true, as the Justice Department shows, that violent criminals are overwhelmingly illiterate, then the education system in our American-copying global culture will be unsafe at any price.

Fred Martinez is staff religion editor of the Conservative Monitor, winner of the CatholiCity Frequent Flyer award, and a regular contributor to the San Francisco Faith, a Northern California newspaper. Specializing in religious as well as psychological articles, he has published in diverse publications ranging from The British Psychological Society's Psycho Net-UK to the New Australian. In addition, he wrote for, produced and hosted the "Latino Love Show" on Channel 38, San Francisco.

Mr. Martinez can be reached at