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Utah State Senator Aaron Osmond says education shouldn't be mandatory

It's appearing more and more that the Republican Party fears education like Wolf Blitzer's colleagues fear a full moon.

Just recently, Utah Republican State Senator Aaron Osmond wrote the following in his blog:

"...I believe the time has come for us to re-evaluate what we expect of parents and the public education system, as follows:

First, we need to restore the expectation that parents are primarily responsible for the educational success of their own children. That begins with restoring the parental right to decide if and when a child will go to public school. In a country founded on the principles of personal freedom and unalienable rights, no parent should be forced by the government to send their child to school under threat of fines and jail time.

Second, we need to shift the public mindset to recognize that education is a not an obligation, but an opportunity to be treasured and respected. Utah’s constitution requires that we provide the opportunity for a free public education to every child. But public education is not free—it costs taxpayers billions each year. When a parent decides to enroll a child in public school, both the parent and child should agree to meet minimum standards of behavior and academic commitment or face real-life consequences such as repeating a class, a grade, or even expulsion.

Third, we need to stop dictating the number of hours a child must be present in a classroom. Instead of requiring that teachers and students must be in class for 990 hours a year, lets enable our local school boards to determine the best use of a teacher’s time and focus student and parent expectations on educational outcomes such as completing assignments and passage of exams as the measurement of success for the opportunity to progress in public school.

Finally, if a parent decides to keep their child home or to go on a family vacation, it’s the responsibility of that parent to ensure their child completes the assignments and stays current with their class. Similarly, if a child consistently misbehaves, it’s the teacher’s right to send that child home to their parent until he or she is ready to respect and appreciate their opportunity to be educated.

I believe it is time to change how we approach public education in Utah. In my view, we should take a close look at repealing compulsory education."

Segueing from that, I have a hunch Senator Osmond believes kids shouldn't be required to learn the following subjects (with Osmond's reasons why next to them):

P.E. - "If there ever was such a thing that could be labeled as anti-American, it's exercise!"

Mathematics - "We've got calculators to do that. Whether or not a kid knows which numbers to press on the calculator to figure out an equation is irrelevant."

English - "The only people who should learn how to speak proper English are those illegal immigrants! If you're from here, speak your own language!"

History - "Were any of us really alive during some of these times? Do we actually know what happened? Did slavery really exist in this country? Nobody truly knows the answers to those questions. The only history we know to be true and that we should teach is in the Bible."

Science - "If we don't require math, we can't require science. There's a lot of math in science and unlike math, science is nothing but theories and gobbledygook. My theory is that science is stupid and Darwin was gay."

http://www.senatesite.com/home/compulsory-education/

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