Originally published November 13 2015
Detroit public schools: 93% can't read, 96% can't do math, but 100% will be allowed to vote
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) At the time of our nation's founding, not everyone could vote. Women were denied the right, as were African-Americans, Native Americans and anyone else considered a non-citizen.
Most of those who voted at the time of the Constitution's ratification were white male landowners. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing in the Constitution then or now that said only landowners could vote, and that included women landowners in some states long before the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. Thomas Jefferson was the primary advocate for requiring votes to own land. He believed that gave them a stake in the country or "skin in the game," as President Obama likes to say. Alexander Hamilton, who led the Federalist movement, disagreed and the Federalist view ultimately won out.
Nevertheless, Jefferson's view should not be completely discounted. At the time of the nation's founding, the only public servants who were directly elected by the people were members of the House of Representatives; U.S. senators were selected by state legislatures (whose members were directly elected) and presidents were chosen by delegates to the Electoral College. Today, following passage of the 17th Amendment, U.S. senators are also directly elected.
Voting rights for all, but let's make sure everyone is as informed as possible
All of these changes to election laws and the Democrats' current push in some states and on the federal level to extend voting rights even to non-citizens have removed any remaining vestige of concern held by Jefferson. The public education system was initially envisioned as a vehicle to teach Americans at a young age about voting as a civic duty and how one could "have skin in the game" by learning the processes and limitations of constitutional government. Owning land, then, was not necessary; rather, knowing what each branch of government was responsible for and how they were to conduct business and carry out their duties was deemed much more important to the perpetuation of the nation.
Today, however, that principle has failed as well after decades of being co-opted by Left-wing ideologues who have essentially removed all civics education from primary school. Couple that with chronically falling reading and math skills, and it is no wonder that our political system is faltering.
While it is by no means the only public school system in the country that is ailing, Detroit public schools are nevertheless a poster child of a failing school system that produced uneducated "graduates" and, therefore, voters who don't have the slightest idea how the U.S. political system is supposed to work.
CNS News reports that in the Detroit public school district, an astounding 96 percent of eighth grade students are not proficient in math, while an equally eye-popping 93 percent are not at all proficient in reading; the latter has major employment implications as well. These are the results of the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress tests published by the Department of Education's National Center for Educational Statistics.
Our citizens should be armed with the knowledge it takes to preserve our founding form of government
That, of course, means that just 4 percent of Detroit middle schoolers are proficient in math while just 7 percent can read adequately. CNS News noted that in the 2011-2012 school year, which is the latest year for which there is financial data posted by the Department of Education, Detroit public schools had "total expenditures" of $18,361 per student and "current expenditures" of $13,330 per student.
According to the Department of Education, in the same time period, the average per-pupil cost in the country was $12,401, for a nationwide total of $621 billion in education spending.
That's horrific, and the results speak for themselves. Nevertheless, we keep doing the same things over and over again, as if the result will be different.
Liberal academics and education labor unions have a financial interest in preserving the public school status quo. That alone proves they are not interested in actually helping our children get the best education they can possibly have. They would rather graduate armies of mind-numbed, illiterate, progressive voters than informed citizens and good stewards of representative democracy.
Detroit is not the only failing public school system in the country, but it is certainly one of the worst. When you add in the rest, it's no wonder we have the kind of invasive, constitutionally challenged, massive, authoritarian government we have.
Should all American citizens have the right to vote? Of course. At the same time, however, we as a nation owe it to our current and future citizens to be well-informed regarding the system of government they are voting to preserve.
Sources include:
Quora.com
CNN.com
CSMonitor.com
NCES.ed.gov[PDF]
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