TEXAS EDUCATION ROUND-UP A RIP-ROARING SUCCESS!

On September 8, the Cowboy Hall of Fame in the Fort Worth Stockyards was filled to capacity for the Texas Education Round-Up. Seated at red and white-checkered tables, participants were welcomed by USA Radio's "Point of View" co-host Penna Dexter, who gave an education overview and introduced the speakers.

Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly began the Round-Up by addressing "Illiteracy: Its Consequences and Cure." She stated that statistics show that by the 4th grade, 60% of minority children and 40% among all youth cannot read. "The glory and grandeur of our great American heritage cannot survive if one-half of our nation is illiterate," said Mrs. Schlafly. "I am also concerned that people with poor reading skills can't read the Constitution and will vote on the basis of a 20-second TV soundbite." Millions of taxpayer dollars are pouring into literacy programs, which she terms "basically worthless." She believes that literacy will not be cured until public schools replace the Whole Language method they are currently using (children guess at words by looking at pictures) with the proven method of teaching reading: phonics (children learn and sound out the sounds of the English language). Mrs. Schlafly has written a phonics reading system called Turbo Reader to help families with their reading skills and has set up the Eagle Forum Literacy Project to train volunteers to teach reading to disadvantaged children.

Dr. John Stormer, a researcher, writer and former school superintendent tackled the subject of education reform. As spelled out in his excellent book, None Dare Call It Education, Dr. Stormer said, "We have lost the sense of what has made us great as a nation. Our founding fathers built this nation on a Biblical foundation with our rights coming from God. Today we have the 'right' to do anything and everything." He traces the demise of U.S. education back to John Dewey, who introduced "a new social order in America" in the 1930s. Promoting a secular humanistic worldview in the classroom, Dewey's philosophy produced the radical 60's generation who control society today. Dr. Stormer believes the federal government needs to get out of education, and we must stay informed about public schools because 89% of our children will be products of those schools.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman (U.S.A. Ret.) kept the audience spellbound with his fast-paced two-hour talk on youth violence. While poverty, unemployment and drugs contribute to an escalating crime rate in the U.S., Lt. Col. Grossman said, "Violence in TV, movies and video games are teaching our kids to kill. Young children are being desensitized and brutalized by watching gory TV shows and movies." He said that media violence is addictive and destructive and listed Jonesboro, Paducah and Littleton, among others, as having in common young shooters who were avid video game players. Lt. Col. Grossman's solution is to turn off the TV in the first six years of a child's life (young children have difficulty separating realism from fantasy), keep kids away from violent video games where killing becomes a pleasurable sport as they rack up winning points, and educate the public about how to spot warning signs in children and how to respond when the signs are there. "When we fail to take action, it is the same as giving the child permission to proceed," said Lt. Col. Grossman. For more information, visit his website: www.killology.com.

Other Round-Up speakers included Texas State Board of Education members David Bradley, Don McLeroy, Geraldine Miller, Richard Neill, Judy Strickland and Richard Watson in a panel discussion on the challenges they are facing in Austin. Also, Diane Keller, headmaster of Brenham Christian Academy, discussed starting a Christian school, and Jessica Hulcy, a nationally known author and speaker, introduced parents to home schooling.

Cathie Adams honored 11 Texas legislators with Texas Eagle Forum's Freedom and Family Award for their conservative voting record during the last legislative session (see Summer 2001 TORCH).

All in all, the day was a rip-roaring success as we equipped parents and educators to "…spur one another toward love and good deeds." (Hebrews 10:24)

Editor's Note: Turbo Reader ($57) None Dare Call It Education ($5 each/5 for $15) and tapes of the Round-Up ($22) are available by writing or calling our office (972-250-0734).

STEM CELL RESEARCH: DESTROYING THE SEEDS OF THE NEXT GENERATION
By Cathie Adams, President of Texas Eagle Forum

President Bush's decision to fund embryonic stem cell research on existing stem cells, while disallowing further killing of human embryonic babies for research has confused many Americans, especially those who consider themselves pro-life. In order to unravel this complicated issue, it is necessary to look deeper than the one-dimensional media spin because the impact of this decision on this nation will be great. When life begins must be considered, as well as the conflicting views of the role of government, existing laws concerning stem cell research and whether the donation of embryonic stem cells is equivalent to organ donation.

Placing the gauntlet in the debate, President Bush quoted the ethicist who told him "that cluster of cells is the same way you and I, and all the rest of us, started our lives;" they are "the seeds of the next generation." That premise should affect all judgments about stem cell research because the embryo is in fact a human baby.

The President also made it clear that embryonic babies were destroyed in order to ascertain the 60 lines of stem cells. Separating the stem cells from the human embryos was indeed like separating the flesh from the soul of the babies causing their death. While he decided rightly against federal funding for additional killing, he created confusion by deciding to make use of the research that already killed the babies. He furthermore dedicated new federal funding which calls into question the ban. While he plans to name a President's Council to monitor stem cell research, it would be impossible to police every petri dish in every laboratory. And if the next president thinks differently, the lines will be further skewed. At that time it will be too late for Americans to change their minds about what they originally thought was limited research.

Most pro-life Americans find it unconscionable that they should fund further research based on the now infamous 60 lines of research obtained from dead babies already secured by private industry. And international law supports their position. The Nuremberg Trials after the Nazi holocaust established a code that disallows the use of such research. Instead of spending taxpayer money to build upon the ill-gained research, the Nuremberg Code has already decided that it should be buried with its victims.

At the very least, Congress should intervene by passing a new law that parallels the Nuremberg Code so that no private or public entity could use research obtained from killing human embryonic babies. In 1995, Congress passed a law that prohibited federal funding for "research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to the risk of injury or death," but they stopped short of banning privately funded destruction of human embryos. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card recently suggested, "I suspect if Congress were to pass a ban, he (the president) would sign it." He added, "Understand though, we Republicans are generally not in favor of more regulation." Americans should influence Congress to pass such a law because without legislation, the new stream of taxpayer funding and Machiavellian research in foreign laboratories will obliterate adherence to any sort of moral standard.

Another aspect of the debate that has confused many is whether donating human embryonic babies' stem cells is ethically the same as organ donation. Indeed it is not. Plainly stated, the difference is like the bacon and eggs breakfast commitment of the chicken and the pig. The chicken needs only to lay an egg, but the pig must give his life to produce the bacon. Scientific "research" on human embryos destroys a baby's life.

America was founded upon public and private virtues as proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence including the right to life, but that once clear focus has been blurred. Either we disallow the use of taxpayer dollars and/or private funds for research that is opposed by the consciences of many Americans, as well as the 50-year-old Nuremberg Code, or we set them aside for what President Bush called "a greater good."

If we choose the latter in the name of scientific research, we will be following after Adam and Eve who sinned because they wanted to be "like God." Unless America chooses life then the only question remaining would be WHEN, not IF, God would judge us.

REP. RON PAUL CONGRESSIONAL FLOOR SPEECH

Mr. Speaker:

Sadly, we find ourselves today dealing with our responsibility to provide national security under the most difficult circumstances. To declare war against a group that is not a country makes the clear declaration of war more complex.

The best tools the framers of the Constitution provided under these circumstances was the power of Congress to grant letters of marques and reprisals, in order to narrow the retaliation to only the guilty parties. The complexity of the issue, the vagueness of the enemy and the political pressure to respond immediately limits our choices. The proposed resolution is the only option we're offered and doing nothing is unthinkable.

There are a couple of serious points I would like to make. For the critics of our policy of foreign interventionism in the affairs of others, the attack on New York and Washington was not a surprise and many have warned of its inevitability.

It so far has been inappropriate to ask why the U.S. was the target and not some other western country. But for us to pursue a war against our enemies, it's crucial to understand why we were attacked, which will then tell us by whom we were attacked.

Without this knowledge, striking out at six or eight or even ten different countries could well expand this war of which we wanted no part. Without defining the enemy, there is no way to know our precise goal nor to know when the war is over. Inadvertent or casual acceptance of civilian deaths by us as part of this war, I'm certain will prolong the agony and increase the chances of even more American casualties. We must guard against this if at all possible.

Although we must now fight to preserve our national security, we should not forget that the founders of this great nation advised us that for our own sake we should stay out of entangling alliances and the affairs of other nations.

We are placing tremendous trust in our president to pursue our enemies as our commander-in-chief, but Congress must remain vigilant as to not allow our civil liberties here at home to be eroded. The temptation will be great to sacrifice our freedoms for what may seem to be more security. We must resist that temptation.

Mr. Speaker, we must rally behind our president, pray for him to make wise decisions, and hope that this crisis is resolved a lot sooner than is now anticipated.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
Congressional floor speech, 9/14/01

DOUBTS ABOUT SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM
By Dave Mundy, Editor of the Orange Leader, 9/7/01

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the schoolhouse:

Lieutenant Gov. Bill Ratliff and House Speaker Pete Laney announced recently they have appointed a joint select committee to study the school finance system in Texas. They've named State Sen. Teel Bivins and State Rep. Paul Sadler to be co-chairs of the committee, which will include, among others, several state legislators and a bunch of lawyers and corporate hacks, including former State Board of Education member Will Davis.

Now, I'm scared. This isn't just asking the fox to guard the hen-house-it's more like asking Freddy Krueger to pop put of a cake at your kid's birthday party.

The school finance system in Texas needs to be overhauled; there's no argument with that. Across the state, more and more school districts are nearing or at the property-tax cap. The situation is acute, especially in high-growth districts, and thanks to the state's "Robin Hood" law-written in large part by Ratliff-a small fraction of the state's property-wealthy districts are footing the bill for the property-poor districts. In doing so, they're having to cut or limit programs in their own schools while helping fund them in other districts.

Talk about taxation without representation!

The fear here is who's doing this-a group of people firmly in the control of the education bureaucracy, who helped bring outcome-based education to Texas and who are responsible for giving school administrators dictatorial control over children.

I've ranted about Ratliff, of course. He's the genius who re-wrote the Texas Education Code a few years back to help George W. Bush give us "more local control" over public schools. As a result, local school boards-the elected representatives of parents and taxpayers-have little more than rubber-stamp power over budgets, textbooks, discipline, facilities and especially curriculum. They're required to attend classes about how to work with administrators…taught, of course, by administrators.

Sadler was Ratliff's big ally during that push, and has been the champion of stripping power away-session by session-from your other elected representatives on the State Board of Education. It was Sadler, in fact, who first suggested that we don't need an elected SBOE because they spend too much time arguing politics and too little time approving new policies formulated by the paper-pushers at the Texas Education Agency. His erstwhile ally George W. Bush went one step further in an Education Commission of the States report, signing on to a call for the elimination of both elected state and local boards, replacing them with "business leaders."

Davis was the leader of the Democratic majority during his time on the SBOE. I say "majority" because, although nine of the 15 members were technically Republicans, only six of them voted like conservatives. Davis and Bush appointee Dr. Jack Christie helped squash debate raised by conservatives on the SBOE in an effort to rush through the flawed and horribly vague Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Thanks to their work, Texas teachers are confused, curriculum writers experience a lot of déjà vu, and more high school honor students than ever have to take remedial math and English when they attempt college-level coursework.

Having said all that, I do hope the committee comes up with a better plan than the current one. I don't put much faith in it, though, because in order to fix school finance, the first thing they'll have to do is fix school spending-eliminate the layers of paper-pushers and fancy titles and get many of those people back into the classroom, where they are needed.

I mean, forgive me for fearing that we will wind up paying even more.

PROPOSED TEXAS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ON NOV. 6 BALLOT

PROP. 1: "…providing for clearing of land titles by the release of a state claim of its interest to the owners of certain land in Bastrop County."
PROP. 2: "…authorizing the issuance of state general obligation bonds and notes to provide financial assistance to counties for roadway projects to serve border colonias."
PROP: 3: "…to authorize the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation raw cocoa and green coffee that is held in Harris County."
PROP. 4: "…providing for a four-year term of office for the fire fighters' pension commissioner."
PROP. 5: "…authorizing the municipalities to donate outdated or surplus firefighting equipment to underdeveloped countries."
PROP. 6: "…requiring the governor to call a special session for the appointment of presidential electors under certain circumstances."
PROP. 7: "…authorizing the Veterans' Land Board to issue up to $500 million in general obligation bonds payable from the general revenues of the state for veterans' housing assistance and to use assets in certain veterans' land and veterans' housing assistance funds to provide for veterans' cemeteries."
PROP. 8: "…authorizing the issuance of up to $850 million in bonds payable from the general revenues of the state for construction and repair projects and for the purchase of needed equipment."
PROP. 9: "…authorizing the filling of a vacancy in the legislature without an election if a candidate is running unopposed in an election to fill the vacancy."
PROP. 10: "…promote equal tax treatment for products produced, acquired, and distributed in the State of Texas by authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation personal property held at certain locations only temporarily for assembling, manufacturing, processing, or other commercial purposes."
PROP. 11: "…allow current and retired public school teachers and retired public school administrators to receive compensation for serving on the governing bodies of school districts, cities, towns, or other local governmental districts, including water districts."
PROP. 12: "…eliminate obsolete, archaic, redundant, and unnecessary provisions and to clarify, update, and harmonize certain provisions of the Texas Constitution."
PROP. 13: "…authorizing the legislature to authorize the board of trustees of an independent school district to donate certain surplus district property of historical significance in order to preserve the property."
PROP. 14: "…authorize the legislature to authorize taxing units other than school districts to exempt them from ad valorem taxation travel trailers that are not held or used for the production of income."
PROP. 15: "…creating the Texas Mobility Fund and authorizing grants and loans of money and issuance of obligations for financing the construction, reconstruction, acquisition, operation, and expansion of state highways, turnpikes, toll roads, toll bridges, and other mobility projects."
PROP. 16: "…prescribing requirements for imposing a lien for work and material used in the construction, repair, or renovation of improvements on residential homestead property and including the conversion and refinance of a personal property lien secured by a manufactured home to a lien on real property as a debt on homestead property protected from a forced sale."
PROP. 17: "…authorizing the legislature to settle land title disputes between the state and a private party."
PROP. 18: "…promote uniformity in the collection, deposit, reporting, and remitting of civil and criminal fees."
PROP. 19: "…providing for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board in amount not to exceed $2 billion."

SAMPLE BALLOT SUGGESTIONS
YES: PROPOSITIONS 1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 18, 19
NO: PROPOSITIONS 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Eagle Cliff Notes

DOZENS PROTEST NEW SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS
It was supposed to be a fairly boring meeting of the State Board of Educatin on Sept. 6 to review middle school science textbooks up for adoption. But when the owrd got out that the books were laced with serious errors, over 90 people signed up to testify at the meeting. Speakers assailed the textbooks as "an intellectual mess," "politically inspired," and "environmentalist propaganda." One environmental science book under review states that offshore oilrigs represent a "constant threat to the environment." Several of the texts presented global warming as both a scientific fact and a product of human causes. One book even depicted a family cookout as a threat to mankind. Representatives from textbook companies said they would review the complaints and correct factual errors. The books will come back for formal approval in November.
Source: The Lone Star Report, 9/14/01

DESENSITIZE THE PUBLIC
Ashley Martin became the first woman to play in an NCAA football game August 30. As a place kicker for the University of Jacksonville, Martin kicked three-extra-points. The media hailed the moment. "It deserves to be made a big deal because she is breaking a barrier and it says to some little girl growing up: 'It's okay to play football,'" said Donna Lupiano of the Women's Sport Fdn. "The first step is always the toughest. The next step is always easier. What the first step does is desensitize the public and make it seem ordinary." So far, no young women have been accepted to play other football positions, requiring the blocking and tackling of male opponents.
Source: Human Events, 9/10/01

RAUNCH RISING
TV got raunchier last year. The so-called family hour featured even more explicit humor and language than in 1999, according to the Parents Television Council. Also, the amount of violence was up substantially. Sexual content declined, but what was aired was much rawer. PTC chairman Brent Bozell stressed that the study covered ordinary broadcast TV, "not late-night, obscure cable" programs. "I don't think enough parents realize just how awful it's become," he said. "Some of the worst programming is now being put on during that hour and it's being directed deliberately at children."
Source: WORLD, 8/11/01

HOMESCHOOLING PICKS UP STEAM
In 1994, the Census Bureau estimated that 360,000 American children were being home-schooled. In 1996, the Department of Education pegged the number at 640,000. And in August of this year, the department's National Center for Education Statistics released a study that confirms the rapid growth and increasing acceptance of the home school movement. It found that an estimated 850,000 children ages five through 17 were being taught at home.
Source: New American, 9/10/01