The Catholic bishop of Harrisburg, Pa., Bishop Joseph McFadden is being criticized for comments where he compares American public schools to the system that Hitler and Mussolini sought to create. I actually think that part of the criticism of McFadden is misplaced, though he is certainly worthy of criticism. McFadden’s controversial statements follow a call for Catholics to organize against President Obama and his health care program by leading Catholic leaders.
In an interview with the ABC affiliate in Harrisburg, McFadden was objecting to the lack of school vouchers in Pennsylvania and the lack of choice for many parents: “In the totalitarian government, they would love our system,” McFadden said. “This is what Hitler and Mussolini and all them tried to establish — a monolith; so all the children would be educated in one set of beliefs and one way of doing things.” The Anti-Defamation League has condemned the statement and said “he should not be making his point at the expense of the memory of six million Jews and millions of others who perished in the Holocaust.”
I understand the sensitivity to such a comparison, but I do not think that the Bishop was referring to the Holocaust. People should be able to make comparisons to aspects of prior totalitarian regimes without fear of being call insensitive to the Holocaust. The Nazi regime was a worldwide tragedy with many aspects and precursors that are the subject of historical and political discourse.
Where McFadden is wrong is that the comparison is wildly misplaced. First, Hitler was raised by a devout Catholic mother and many Nazis were taught in religious schools. Indeed, the Vatican was criticized by some for not doing more to confront the Nazi regime. Second, the fascists sought to use schools to indoctrinate children to accept narrow values to the exclusion of other values and the objectification of other people. American public schools do the opposite. They are motivated by pluralistic principles to help shape citizens who are tolerant and well-rounded. They are the antithesis of what fascists want from education.
Finally, this is about vouchers and whether the people of Pennsylvania should subsidize alternative schools, such as Catholic schools. With the church experiencing severe shortfalls in attendance and donations, they need more from the state more than ever. However, there are very good reasons for opposition to vouchers. I attended Catholic schools for part of my earlier education and I am very thankful for the education that I received in those schools. However, Leslie and I are committed to the model of public education. While we can afford a private education, we have kept our children in public schools where they are taught in a more diverse class. I have long been an advocate for public education, particularly in the elementary and middle school levels, as a critical part of shaping good citizens. While I have often been critical of the curriculum particularly on civics, I believe that the public schools have always been the key to maintaining a citizenry that is educated and tolerant.
The comparison to Hitler and Mussolini reflects less disrespect on the part of Bishop McFadden than it does a lack of understanding of the fascistic agenda on education: dogma and exclusionary learning. While I believe Catholic schools are excellent choices for learning, it is outrageous to compare fascistic systems to our public schools. Hitler and Mussolini would find our current curriculum in public schools to be a threat to their type of indoctrination model for children.
Source: ABC
Bron,
As I suggested earlier, you have to pay for them because they are there for your use and your community’s use. Good school systems are also a benefit to the community in that they raise the housing values. Finally, it is your choice to go to a private school, most of which are tied to a religious ideology. The taxpayer should not subsidize religious schools.
And I will second what Neil Allen said.
Elaine:
“Alan Greenspan thought so too–as did many other people in Washington. That’s why we had a near financial meltdown in this country. Keep drinking the Kool-aid.”
Go and look at the CFR for banking and financial institutions. There are thousands of regulations that control the market. The Fed controls the interest rate which is a control on the market. We dont have a free market, everywhere you turn there are regulations and controls on market forces.
The bail-out itself was a control mechanism that distorted market forces.
Do you really believe we have a free market which failed? We have a controlled system which failed.
If a child using a voucher does not get into a school, then that school doesnt get the voucher money and your tax dollars are not used. And if another poor kid does get in then the school discriminates on the basis of merit which isnt discrimination at all.
Bron,
>>“The public schools are there for your use, but you don’t have to use
>>them.”
>then why should you be forced to pay for them?
Because we all need them.
Here’s an example. The Catholic church and their congregation doesn’t want to pay for the prosecutors that prosecute your pedophile priests, but the rest of the country does want that, so taxpayers have to pay for them.
Catholics shouldn’t get their own schools, or water lines, or roads or anything else.
If you want to send your kids to your own schools, pay for the whole thing.
Get off the high horse, they loved our propagandists, who are world renowned.
There are better educational systems than ours, so we could ask if they would like those systems, and if so would they like the better systems more than ours?
Private schools don’t have to accept any of/all of the poor children who apply to them. I don’t want my tax dollars helping to subsidize schools that can discriminate. As I said earlier, public schools have to accept all children who live in their districts.
“I believe the market will self control…”
Alan Greenspan thought so too–as did many other people in Washington. That’s why we had a near financial meltdown in this country. Keep drinking the Kool-aid.
rafflaw:
“The public schools are there for your use, but you don’t have to use them.”
then why should you be forced to pay for them?
“It is interesting that those who believe that the market will always self control itself, just don’t believe that the private schools can make it on their own without government subsidy.”
I believe the market will self control and I dont believe in government subsidies for private schools. A voucher is not a subsidy, it is your tax money being given back to you to spend where you see fit to spend it. Many times it is less than what a public school costs per pupil and less than you pay in local, state and federal taxes.
For the poor you are probably right, it would be a subsidy to a private school, but then the poor are subsidized by public schools as well, so there really isnt much of a difference except where the money goes. Personally I am all for the poor being subsidized to send their children to school where they want to send them. A little bit more freedom is never a bad thing.
Neil,
I attended parochial schools from first through 12th grade. I was married in a Catholic Church–and my daughter was baptized in one. I think I know where the bishop is “coming from.”
I was a public school teacher for more than three decades. My daughter attended public schools from kindergarten through the 12th grade. I’m an advocate of public schools.
*****
Mespo,
Right you are!
We witness a Bishop who has pedophile abuse on his hands claiming that the public school system is akin to a Nazi model and why shouldn’t we laugh out loud? It is interesting that those who believe that the market will always self control itself, just don’t believe that the private schools can make it on their own without government subsidy. If you want your kids to go to a private school, then pony up the cash and send them. The public schools are there for your use, but you don’t have to use them.
Personally, I never trust a guy dressed in a red frock with a red beenie on his bald head and a big smile on his puss. When I learn from one of the comments above that he is a child rapist enabler for the cult of the catholic rear enders then my four legs want to run in his presence because those predators do have a predilection for for dogs. In my neighborhood there were two grade schools: one Catholic and one public, I knew a hundred kids who went to that cat-lick place and only one, just one, went on to graduate from college. The public school where my pal attended had about 50% who graduated from college. If you think about sending your sonny boy to a catholic school think about the nuns with the rulers and the Rulers from above with the dumb notions about Hitler, Mussolini and no knowledge about their own conniving Pope at that time.
As for vouchers: Mike Spendell above hit the nail on the head. The segregationists love vouchers.
If you are now a parent with a kid in a cat-lick school then you must question your kid about the conduct of the priests. And, never, ever let your son be an alter boy.
mespo,
lol…
“where he compares American public schools to the system that Hitler and Mussolini sought to create.”
***********************************
Given recent horrific examples of abuse from around the globe one might say that Catholic boarding schools and orphanages are comparable to the system that the Marquis de Sade sought to create. But that would be hyperbole of the rankest kind wouldn’t it?
Two can play at this rhetorical game signifying not much at all.
I’m pretty sure if you read the link I posted and follow the links within that link, you might understand a little about where the Bishop was coming from. I wonder what exactly what the public school advocates have been advocating.
This link tells you all you need to know about public schools in America.
http://teapartyeconomist.com/2012/02/06/19-insane-ways-kids-that-can-be-expelled-or-even-arrested/
H. Skip Robinson,
“…the Bishop is right on the money on this issue.”
You’re right–money is central to this issue. I’m sure the bishop would love to see public money helping to subsidize Catholic schools.
As an opponent of public education, many fail to understand why you don’t want your child’s curriculum determined by the political means of government. It also has not cured it intended purpose of solving the problems of high truancy and dropouts rates. In fact it has exacerbated these problems with today’s rates the highest in history. Everyone wants the poor to have access to quality education, but as always, they choose the wrong methods of accomplishing a real solution. If you haven’t noticed yet, government has not solved one major social problem in the last 50 years and in fact the problems are getting worse, as the negative ramifications of advanced socialism (fascism) permeate our society. I can’t beleive I would ever say this but the Bishop is right on the money on this issue.
Holy crap.
I was struck by a comment bel hooks made in one of her books, that some black kids in black schools were wised up to the situation around them and treated with respect. When they were transferred to integrated schools, they were taught that America is fair, you get what you deserve, and treated with disrespect. Something like that.
An argument for more than one system.
puzzling:
going a little overboard arent you? What you relate inst the norm, at least from my experience with 2 children in the public school system.
There are two kinds of catholic schools – parochial and private. They are funded in different manners. I know this because my children attended parochial schools in their younger years. I became very interested in education and was elected to the school board. Later they attended private schools. My husband was a firm believer in public schools as he attended Chicago public schools, but when we moved to Texas he changed his mind. I attended catholic schools for twelve years.