A More Perfect Independence Day

A More Perfect Independence Day
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
July 3, 2020

In the United States we the people celebrate Independence Day, not the fourth of July. Are you going to wish people a “happy sixth” when returning to work on Monday? On that date 244 years ago the British colonies of America declared its independence from the tyranny of King George III (1738-1820). No more taxation without representation. No more trials without juries.

For all our faults and foibles as a nation constructed of, by, and for mortal human beings, for all our missteps and sins, there are myriad reasons to salute Old Glory, sing the Star Spangled Banner, and rejoice in the greatness that is the United States of America. Such as being the most generous nation on earth. Such as opening our doors, legally, to more people than any other country. Such as the inventions and discoveries made by Americans. Such as the rights afforded people of all races, creeds, colors, and sexual orientation. Such as the freedoms granted by G-d, found in the United States Constitution. Freedoms such as “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” - not the guarantee of happiness - the pursuit of happiness.

We the people should not, must not, pay for the sins of our forefathers. After all, as the giant melting pot that we are, how many millions of Americans jumped into that pot after 1865? No amount of money can ever right that wrong, nor should it be attempted. Who should be paid? By whom? How much? For how long? The resentment will only deepen the already deepening chasm between the races.

Instead, a payment must be made in the guaranteed equal opportunity, not equal outcome, but equal opportunity. Dismantle, and rebuild, from the ground up, the concept of public education that it not be dominated by teachers’ unions and tenure protecting bad teachers. School choice must be permitted for all children, not just those rich enough to afford religious or parochial schools - schools with up to date books, materials, technology, and qualified teachers with proper training able to pass a subject exam every three or five years. More support from school administration, greater parental involvement, and stronger discipline. 

If this sounds like I am asking for the moon, as an experienced educator, I know this is necessary. As citizens across this great nation, we know what the alternative looks like. It always starts with education, and not from the first day of preschool or kindergarten, but in the home. If those at home can’t provide some semblance of education during those all important pre-K years, that is where social services should play a role. These programs should be funded by eliminating the pork-laden overspending by the legislatures designed to kiss the collective tuchuses of the voters. This is where less is more. 

This is the reparation due to the socio-economically disadvantaged. Education is always the key. It leads to greater competition. It leads to better, higher paying jobs, which leads to greater freedom and independence. Free from government dependence on welfare, failing schools, and/or a failing prison system which is far from rehabilitating. 

Independence Day is more than fireworks, bar-b-cues, and yes, even baseball, which sadly this year will not be played on Independence Day 2020. On April 15, 1947 Major League Baseball righted a wrong when Jackie Robinson (1919-72) stepped onto Ebbets Field as part of the home team Brooklyn Dodgers. Read the Declaration of Independence - as a family, if possible. Celebrate the men and women in uniform, who gave us, and continue to give us, the freedoms we cherish. In 1948 President Harry Truman (1884-1972) righted a wrong by desegregating the branches of the military. Truman should be celebrated for that, as well as, in the same year, being the first world leader to recognize the State of Israel as a new member of the world of nations. Some would say Truman should be shunned by 2020 standards because he uttered racial epithets about blacks and Jews, yet those people would be wrong for not understanding the context of the period of history these events occurred. History does not exist in a vacuum - it evolves over time and the progress thereof should, must, be recognized and celebrated.

A more perfect union. Amendments 13, 14, and 15 certainly righted some wrongs - ending slavery, naturalizing former slaves as American citizens, and granting those new citizens - male, age 21 and older, the right to vote in 1865, 1868, and 1870 respectively. And the 19th Amendment righted a wrong in 1920, finally granting women the right to vote during the Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) administration - just in time for that November’s presidential election.

There are those who are calling for the vilification of Wilson because the native Virginian was a racist. Princeton University, where Wilson served as president from 1902-10, and his alma mater (1879), officially decided last week to remove his name from the School of Public and International affairs as well as one of its residential colleges. Yet Wilson should be remembered for leading the United States to victory in World War I. He should also be remembered for appointing the first Jewish justice to the United States Supreme Court - Louis Brandeis (1856-1941), in 1916.

No one is perfect. No place is perfect - that’s Utopia, and that never existed, save for the fertile mind of Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) whose book was published in 1516. Not even the Garden of Eden. Should statues of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1919-68) be torn down and streets in his honor renamed because he was a philanderer and a plagiarist? Should the monument to Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) be removed from its secluded location in Washington, DC because he interned 120,000 people of Japanese descent during World War II? More than 60 percent were American citizens. (OK, I think it should. The only good thing to come from FDR was FDIC.)

“He that is without sin... let him cast the first stone…” (John 8:7).

We don’t have a purity test in the United States - if so, the failure rate would be 100 percent. We no more take down the statues, monuments, or memorials of a Dr. King or an FDR than we do of a George Washington (1732-99; General winning the Revolutionary War and First President), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826; Declaration of Independence and Louisiana Purchase), Andrew Jackson (1767-1845; winning the Battle of New Orleans capping the War of 1812 to preserve the Union), or Abraham Lincoln (1809-65; credited with freeing the slaves). We remember them for their body of work - their entire body of work. We honor them for the good they did for society, civilization, and/or humanity.

Happy Independence Day to all freedom loving Americans.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Principal Whitewashes School Election

Principal Whitewashes School Election

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

October 22, 2015

For the students at Everett Middle School in San Francisco dictatorship and political correctness is a first-hand experience and a way of life thanks to their principal Lena Van Haren.

The dictatorial Van Haren unilaterally withheld the student government election results because, according to her, not enough minority students were elected. “It’s not okay for a school that is really, really diverse to have the student representatives majority white,” said Van Haren.

Incredulously, Van Haren actually acknowledges this politically correct nonsense is acceptable and appropriate to inculcate unsuspecting children and brainwash them into believing that their own thought processes and free will decisions are unacceptable.

Certainly the parents do not agree with Van Haren as they have expressed their outrage at the principal’s withholding the election results for more than a week. “The easy thing would have been to announce the results and move on. I intentionally did not choose the easy way because this is so important,” said Van Haren.

What is so important, Ms. Van Haren? Shunning the voices of the students who voted on their own without scandal or fraud? Dismissing the free will decisions made by thinking students neither under duress or intimidation? Why is it wrong for black and Latino students to vote for white students, Ms. Van Haren? What is your agenda? To keep students divided among racial and ethnic lines? This is typical of the liberal and progressive agenda to foster further use of hyphenated names – African-American, Asian-American, Latino-American, etc.

What this exercise should teach the students is that the hard work implemented by the candidates for the student government was ignored by the principal – one person – simply because she – one person – did not approve of the results. The students are learning the evils of political correctness and the lack of rule of law as their student government elections can be compared to that of elections in Cuba, Iran, and Russia – not the United States.

Van Haren wrote a letter to the parents outlining how to have a more representative government – in other words, how to skew results to elect more minorities that the principal approves of because she does not believe in the republican democracy upon which this country was founded. Van Haren clearly believes in diversity instead of the free will of the student body – the voice of one over the voices of the many.

“I feel it is disrespectful to all the people who were running. The whole school voted for these people, so it is not like people rigged the game, but in a way – now it is kind of being rigged,” said Sebastian Kaplan, a seventh-grade student who spoke with KRON-TV. Even a middle school student understands what his principal did was unprincipled.

Apparently the color of the skin is more important to Van Haren than the content of the character of her students. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. would be more than just a little disappointed.

It is ironic that the Everett school district called this electoral debacle a “learning opportunity.” Ironic because it is the principal Lena Van Haren who needs the education in the American electoral system. The fact that she diminished this example of political correctness by noting this was a middle school election and not one for president is demonstrative of her ignorance of the importance of teaching the children what is right, not what is right in her progressive world of election fixing at any level. Van Haren owes her students and their parents both an apology and a return to classical education, something American public schools have seem to have long since abandoned.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Earning the Maximum: Let’s Educate to Reduce Poverty

Earning the Maximum: Let’s Educate to Reduce Poverty
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 4, 2013

In his Labor Day column, September 2, “Beyond bare minimum,” Duncan Black, a fellow at Media Matters for America, lives up to his organization’s progressive bent when he admits to pushing “a crazy idea,” pertaining to the poverty crisis in these United States.

“If I ran the country I’d implement ‘crazier’ ideas than a higher federal minimum wage. Specifically, I’d enact a guaranteed, if small, minimum annual income for all adults. A crazy idea, perhaps, but a crazy idea which would help to alleviate poverty while reducing the cost of other parts of our stingy welfare state,” wrote Black, who clearly lacks an economics background.

To be fair, he does at least recognize the insanity of his socialist scheme.

A guaranteed income for all adults? Seems like Black commandeered a page out of Karl Marx. Let me remind Mr. Black that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” wrote that ubiquitous Founding Father Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence.

The key to Jefferson’s genius was that all men are created equal. What they do from there is up to them. We live in a country that rewards hard work and smart decision making. Jefferson never said we are guaranteed a life of equality, for if that were so, it would be a life of the lowest common denominator.

Mr. Black challenged readers to formulate a better solution than his.

For starters, a minimum annual income for all adults could only be mandated by government and that would be the end of the capitalist system enjoyed since before the colonists told King George III to take a hike. A minimum annual income is not an incentive to work harder and strive for higher wages, as some people are willing to do the minimum, for the minimum, and then demand more from the government, which has no obligation to take care of healthy, able-bodied, agile-minded American citizens.

Referencing the “stingy welfare state,” Mr. Black failed to mention that in 35 states welfare benefits are actually higher than what a minimum wage worker would earn in a year. That must change. Welfare should never be higher than minimum wage. There should never be a reason for people to shun a job in favor of a government handout. The answer is not to raise the minimum wage, but lower the welfare benefits to encourage recipients to collect benefits for as short a period as possible. This would lower government payouts derived from the pockets of working people.

As someone “genuinely interested in helping the working poor,” as Black called for, I agree with him that “People who either work hard or who are willing to work hard should not face a marginal existence with near-poverty incomes.”

Returning to Black’s suggestion to conjure up a better solution than he offered, it starts with education and discipline. The hard work Black references begins in the classroom, and if we are talking about the working poor, it may be generational poverty where education may not have been stressed in the household. Coupled with a high chance that said household may be single-parent, here’s where the discipline enters the picture. Babies having babies – teen parenting leading to dropping out of school, thus a paucity of education leading to low wage jobs requiring a minimum amount of skill, thus the minimum wage as those workers are easily expendable and replaced.

I don’t want to hear the oft-repeated mantra of this is not realistic from the left. Or, you don’t understand. Having taught in inner city public and charter schools, I understand. I understand that in order to break the cycle of poverty, hard work is required. I understand that in order to stay in school and earn an education, hard work is required. I understand that in order to avoid teen motherhood or gang membership when so much negative influence is about, hard work is required.

That is the key, as stated by Mr. Black – “people who work hard or are willing to work hard.” It just starts at home and in the classroom, not once the pregnant teen or gang member already has two strikes on them. These strikes can be avoided by listening to good teachers, good parents, good priests, ministers, and rabbis who offer guidance. No, it’s not easy with all the negative stimuli abound. Neither I nor Mr. Black said it would be, nor was it meant to be, easy.

The public school system in the United States must be drastically amended if not scrapped altogether. School choice, charter schools, vouchers, and old fashioned American competition is the answer. Better schools cannot be mandated by government. Strict discipline must be meted out in all schools and a return to respect for ones elders, ones teachers, and ones parents must become the norm again along with dress codes, honor codes, and a daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Order must be restored in the schools as an imperative for anyone to learn, garner a good education, and earn a job paying above minimum wage. A minimum wage job is not meant to be an end, but a beginning as one gains experience one climbs the ladder to a better job and better wages.

The crux, as Mr. Black and I agree, is the desire and ability to work hard. The difference is that he wants government to work hard to provide for the people, while I want people to work hard to provide for themselves and their families setting the examples that will permanently be ingrained in all future generations.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Favoring Illegals over Veterans

Favoring Illegals over Veterans

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

March 15, 2013

In the topsy-turvy world of what passes for right in Obama-land more and more states are allowing illegal aliens to pay in-state tuition while veterans of the United States Armed Forces are being denied that same right.

If you are not as apoplectic as I am, read it again. If you’re still not fully disgusted you have neither a soul nor a brain and you are beyond redemption.

Let’s start with the illegals and remind people, once again, as I have done so often, that those who are here in the United States illegally have broken the law and should neither be in this country, nor in a college classroom.

The federal government should deny all funding to any state institution of higher learning if said schools admit illegals in the first place, let alone at in-state tuition rates. In order to receive in-state tuition privileges, prospective students must prove they are legal residents of a given state. How can they do that if they are in the country illegally? They can’t, unless they have forged documentation, another crime.

On the disgraceful flip side of this myopic coin is the unconscionable disrespectful behavior with which American veterans are being treated. And for the veterans it is a double dose of disrespect.

First, back in January, the Associated Press reported that because oft-moving military members rarely have permanent roots, proving residency has become increasingly difficult and schools are denying them in-state tuition benefits. This has unfortunately led to several lawsuits, taking time and money from veterans who can ill afford either, to be declared in-state residents of states where they are seeking their degrees.

“It’s been paid for – with blood and sweat and tears and deployments,” said former Army Sergeant Hayleigh Lynn Perez in filing a $10 million lawsuit against the University of North Carolina Board of Governors after being denied North Carolina state residency. (AP, 01/06/13)

“For the first time since the inception of the GI Bill, residency for tuition purposes is now an issue for thousands of veterans,” said Jason Thigpen, founder and president of the Student Veterans Advocacy Group. (AP, 01/06/13)

These are veterans of the United States Armed Forces being screwed over. They have made the sacrifices few ever deign to make. They are not asking for free tuition, just to be recognized as residents of a state for tuition purposes. The veterans are not looking for handouts, but instead, a hand up in an effort to better themselves to make themselves more marketable to avoid being dependent upon the government, something that ought be encouraged, not made more challenging.

Adding insult to injury is Obama for cutting the Tuition Assistance Program and having the audacity to blame the sequestration. This is the same sequestration Obama himself proposed and has used to its maximum public punishing effect. (See http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2013/03/open-peoples-house-and-take.html)

This country is bending over backwards to placate illegals while it is treating its veterans with such utter disdain and disrespect. For those who are alumni of state universities, call them, e-mail them, send a smoke signal, and inform them, should they grant illegals in-state tuition privileges, you will cease all financial contributions.

Additionally, the money that state schools are using to give illegals tuition discounts should go to veterans for their in-state tuition – they earned it. The money we the people don’t give our alma maters should go to in-state tuition funds for the veterans. Let’s afford veterans the education they have earned. After all, they put their lives on the line while we enjoyed campus life, now it’s payback time.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Judge Rodriguez-Chomat - Hero to the Civilized

Judge Rodriguez-Chomat – Hero to the Civilized

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 7, 2013

Finally someone who doesn’t suffer fools, pissant derelicts with no respect for self or others, or indolence.

Three cheers for Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat. Not happy with the flippant response from an already disrespectful defendant, Rodriguez-Chomat doubled the amount of bond from $5,000 to $10,000 which elicited an even more disrespectful response and gesture that will cost Penelope Soto, 18, of Miami, 30 days in jail.

Soto appeared before Rodriguez-Chomat on Monday, February 4, charged with felony possession of 26 bars of Xanax – a drug used to treat anxiety and panic disorder. (www.drugs.com/xanax) While chastised for seeming to make light of the proceedings, Soto laughed, used slang words in her answers regarding the value of her possessions such as jewelry, and was then given bond of $5,000.

The judge said goodbye to Soto, who responded with a disrespectful “adios.” At that point, Rodriguez-Chomat requested Soto be brought back before him where he doubled Soto’s bond for her poor attitude. Soto then offered the judge her middle finger as she belligerently questioned the doubling of the bond figure and said “f-ck you” to Rodriguez-Chomat.

Rodriguez-Chomat called for Soto to again reappear, asked her if she said “f-ck you,” to which she admitted she had used the profanity all the while twirling her hair. At that point he cited her with contempt of court and a 30-day jail sentence.

Although this is Soto’s first brush with the law, it was painfully obvious she lacks respect for the process, the judge, and quite frankly, for herself, and the 30 days will hopefully do her a world of good.

There are some who believe Judge Rodriguez-Chomat, a 67-year-old jurist born in Havana and a graduate of the University Miami School of Law, overreacted to Soto’s disrespectful behavior and should neither doubled her bond nor sentenced her to 30 days in jail. Some suggest the judge did not have the authority to cite Soto with contempt of court.

“Being rude is not contempt,” said Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers on The O’ Reilly Factor Wednesday, February 6.

I couldn’t disagree more virulently with Powers and her ilk. A message must be sent to miscreants like Soto that respect is the order of the day in court, out of court, whether with ones elders or not. And yes, Rodriguez-Chomat had every authority to pin a contempt charge on Soto.

Contempt of court is “an act of deliberate disobedience or disregard for the laws, regulations, or decorum of a public authority, such as a court or legislative body.” It “is behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the court.” Further, a judge has “wide discretion… in determining both what constitutes contempt and how it is punished.” (www.legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

Soto’s behavior certainly fits the definition of contemptible.

Soto is merely a symptom of the deleterious nature of society in these United States. While Powers would not have sentenced Soto to 30 days in jail for her antics, saying she would have given Soto two weeks of community service, Powers contradicted herself on a similar issue of disrespect in the New York City Public School System.

On the same episode of O’ Reilly, it was noted that the New York City Public Schools disciplinary code has been softened to the point where students cursing at teachers ranks low on the infractions list requiring nothing more than a slight reprimand. Powers objected to this, noting the cursing should be more strongly punished.

“The new rules will keep kids who commit ‘low level infractions’ in class, where they can learn from their mistakes,” said New York City Education Spokesman Margie Feinberg. (New York Daily News, 08/22/12)

As someone who has taught in charter schools and in inner city schools, this decision by New York City Public Schools is disgraceful. Lowering the bar where cursing and disrespect are virtually ignored under the guise of keeping students in school simply encourages others to act out just as churlishly. This then takes more time away from teaching and learning, thus punishing all the students in a given class and setting them further and further behind other classes. Ultimately it gives children carte blanche to push the envelope of worse, more destructive behavior – either towards themselves or others.

Instead, the “Broken Windows” theory should be employed. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in his excellent book Leadership, credited James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling’s theory that one of the best ways to cure the ills of New York City  began with “paying attention to ‘minor’ infractions like aggressive panhandling, graffiti, and turnstile-jumping would greatly reduce all crime, including major felonies.” (P. xiii)

The slippery slope of incivility must be reversed by, as Giuliani said, “sweating the small stuff.” Cut it off at the pass, to use an old Western’s movie phrase. Crack down on the minor infractions before students run amok in schools and take their miscreant behavior to the streets where lawlessness and chaos ensues. Perhaps then there will be fewer Penelope Sotos appearing before Judge Rodriguez-Chomat where jail time is meted out for disrespect and contempt. Until then, job well done your honor.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

DC Ponders Dropping Social Studies

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it…. Studying history is necessary to avoid repeating past mistakes.” – George Santayana (1863-1952)

DC Ponders Dropping Social Studies

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

January 23, 2013

Ignorance isn’t bliss – it’s downright stupid and dangerous. It’s bad enough we have a Congress and administration unfamiliar with the Constitution of the United States, but to perpetuate such ignorance by eliminating civics, government, and social studies in the DC school system is irresponsible at best if not criminal.

This is not some sickening plotline of a Dumb and Dumber remake. Worse, this is a moronic plot dreamed up by vacuous imbeciles within the DC school system to combat their already distressing lowest in the nation graduation rate of 59 percent. (www.pbs.org)  

Those supporting such a horrific notion have raised the white flag in perpetuity and guaranteed future generations a return to slavery and a loss of the American dream as well as the American way of life in a democratic-republic.

In the shadow of the Capitol Building, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial – for whom is honored not just the author of the Declaration of Independence, the third president of the United States, but also the founder of the University of Virginia – and the Lincoln Memorial; in the shadow of the splendor of what is the nation’s capital and the seat of the federal government, sits in virtual ashes, the public school system of the District of Columbia.

Include in that wreckage, the dozens of charter schools – at two of which I taught, and can testify the dire need for social studies, government, geography, and civics. At a bare minimum high school curriculum must include a year of world history, two years of American history, and a year of civics/government. The three years of history should also include geography. At the lower grades, introductory civics, social studies, and maps and map reading should be mandatory.

To abandon the social studies, et al, is to surrender to those who would replace our democratic-republican institutions with socialism and in a generation all will have been lost and nothing will have been salvaged.

A revolution was waged to give the American people its freedom from the tyrannical government of King George III. When asked in 1787 following the Constitutional Convention what kind of government the new country was given, Benjamin Franklin responded, “A republic… if you can keep it.”

That war all but had to be refought two generations later during the War of 1812 – a war barely glossed over in textbooks and classrooms alike.

Make no mistake, this pandemic of dumbing down our curriculum and ultimately our society as a whole, as we fall farther and farther behind foreign countries with fewer resources is not limited to our nation’s capital. Cities large and small, rich and poor, rural and urban, are equally susceptible to the degradation of the educational system.

While this is not the place to lay blame, teachers’ unions, administrators, and quite frankly anyone whose positions are weakened by poor student performance, are clearly at the top of the list of those responsible for making such an appalling suggestion to downgrade the American curriculum. For while it may be DC today, it could very well be Kansas City, with its 40 percent graduation rate, tomorrow, or Chicago, with its 60 percent graduation rate, the day after, or any other fledgling city such as Cleveland, at 34 percent, Detroit, at 25 percent, or Indianapolis, at 34 percent.

And it is not just the loss of social studies et al, which I teach, that is of concern, it is the slippery slope that if this subject could be abandoned in the guise of the interest of improving graduation rates, why not eliminate chemistry, physics, biology, algebra, geometry, English, and all challenging subjects.

The school systems are enablers of ignorance under the mistaken notion that we must continue to coddle students, reward them for simply showing up, and protecting their precious self-esteems when none of the above will vaunt them into college, a good productive job in the workforce, or grant them the ability to compete on a global level.

Just the opposite. The less children learn the less they will earn as adults and the more deeply entrenched and dependent upon government they will become. This is already an entitlement society, but the continuing dumbing down of the curriculum will destroy any balance between the ability to provide for those in dire need versus those who simply refuse to provide for themselves.

Parents ought to be clamoring at the schoolhouse doors demanding more discipline, more challenging curriculum – including social studies, to enable their children to remain free in a society that is theirs to rule in the next generation, if they are able.

Do we really want to turn out so-called graduates who know nothing of the history of their country? What is their incentive to join the military and defend this nation and its principles if young people do not know the history or its founding principles? Can we afford to have a nation so ignorant of its rights that it eventually becomes mired in a police state?

Are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution mere paper to be ignored that we will ultimately surrender our rights and freedoms as archaic, superficial, and meaningless? The slippery slope there, is to abandon the right to vote and choose our own government, which is what an ignorant society will do – it is easier to let someone else do the thinking and make the challenging decisions.

As it is voter turnout is barely above 50 percent in a presidential election year and infinitely lower in other years. Fewer and fewer people are already making those decisions for those who find it to difficult or meaningless to exercise their rights. How much attention were those folks paying in social studies, civics, or history class?

Eliminating social studies et al, from the curriculum will not only relegate the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States to the dustbin of history, but it will also relegate the United States to third world status.

I don’t wish to become Cuba, North Korea, or Russia. Do you?

“Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.” – Ronald Reagan, January 5, 1967, from his first inaugural speech as governor of California

It is far easier to conquer an ignorant people unarmed and bereft of facts and knowledge than it is to conquer a learned society.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He taught American History, World History, and Geography at two charter schools in Washington, DC prior to moving to Indiana.

Stop Cursing Cursive

Stop Cursing Cursive

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

January 14, 2013

With apologies to the late Waylon Jennings, “Mammas don’t let your babies grow up to” have Jack Lew’s signature. The Secretary of State designate has a signature resembling that of the icing on a Hostess® cupcake – all swirl and no substance – thus strengthening the case to mandate cursive writing in all elementary schools.

Within two days of each other, The Indianapolis Star printed a news article and an editorial juxtaposing one another on the issue of keeping cursive writing a part of the educational agenda in the Hoosier State.

Scott Elliott’s article “In favor of the written word,” (01/09/13) conveys the desire of State Senator Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) requiring cursive writing be returned to the Indiana curriculum. Leising filed legislation both in 2012 and will do so again in the upcoming legislative session in the wake of the State Department of Education’s decision to no longer require the teaching of cursive writing in 2011.

According to the Star, the State Senate overwhelmingly supported Leising’s bill by a vote of 45-5. The bill never reached the House floor, however. Clearly not a partisan issue, as the Senate vote depicts, Leising did not, however, have the support of House Education Committee Chairman Bob Behning, a fellow Republican from Indianapolis. Behning believed then and still does as of this week, that it is “inappropriate” for curriculum to be mandated by the legislature.

And apparently newly installed State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz (D) is not a supporter of the Leising bill either, according to her spokesman, David Galvin. “Cursive should be under the purview of the State Board of Education,” Galvin said.

Since the elimination of the cursive writing requirement, such a decision to teach or not to teach the skill has been left to individual schools to determine. This clearly is short sighted as cursive writing is a needed skill for people’s signatures, the ability to read antiquated documents, and simply convey information when a computer or laptop is not available.

So short sighted that in Matthew Tully’s commentary “Put your pencils down and pay attention,” (01/11/13) he took, albeit tongue in cheek, pot shots at cursive writing in a manner that was pedantic, myopic, and patronizing.

Should we really return to the days of Jim Crow when people who did not know how to sign their own names simply made their mark with an “X”? That would be a tragedy.

While Tully said he could “go either way” on the actual teaching of cursive writing, he opposes a mandate at the legislative level. But, in doing so, he mocks potential letter writers suggesting critics would contact him via pen and paper as opposed to “one of those fancy computer gizmos.” Well, LOL, Mr. Tully as is oft-posted on-line, as I complete this column and post it to my blog.

This issue first came to my attention in 2011 after the decision by the I-DOE and from my two nieces living in Westfield, one who had already learned cursive writing and one who would not, but wanted to. I wrote a column then, “Keeping Cursive is (Write) Right” (07/11/11) that was ignored by the Current in Westfield, but can be found on my blog.

Mandating the teaching of cursive writing throughout the state of Indiana via legislative edict ensures a level of consistency. Keyboarding can and should still be taught, but side by side with cursive writing.

“Having taught middle and high school, handwriting ranges from the creative to the illegible and students with poor handwriting skills tend to get frustrated and not write enough, thus making the handwriting even more difficult to interpret by teachers.

Not all applications can be filled out on-line. Paperwork in doctor’s offices, checks and thank you notes still require handwriting. Neatness ensures accuracy, while the alternative could be costly financially or even medically.” (“Keeping Cursive…”)

Without sounding overly paranoid, when our antiquated power grid fails, and it will, pen and paper will once again rule the day. When, as a writer, I have a middle of the night epiphany, I reach for my pad and pen, not laptop at my bedside.

There’s even a cursive font on the computer, Tully is familiar with it as he used it in his column. More knowledge and abilities are good things, not things to shun and mock. Some traditions just shouldn’t be abandoned.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Daniels a Coup for Purdue

Daniels a Coup for Purdue
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
June 20, 2012

For those of us disappointed he opted to sit on the sidelines for the 2012 GOP presidential nominating cavalcade, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will in fact, become president – of Purdue University.

In selecting the Monongahela, PA native as its 12^th president, Purdue welcomes a major league name to lead an engineering-based institution in a major league conference – the Big Ten. Daniels, 63, no stranger to the limelight, but who tends to shy away from the cameras, is far from aloof as he has a good personality, wry sense of humor and is rather cerebral.

Daniels commands tremendous respect from people and as such carries with him the ability to assemble a winning team – something that helped make him a successful two-term governor. That, along with his connections, will surely compensate for his lack of experience in the academic arena.

Daniels will overcome whatever learning curve and shortcomings his critics aver simply by listening to their experience-based suggestions. After all, they will want Daniels to succeed as a non-partisan university president which is a less combative position than governor. The only hope of failure could emerge from spiteful academic elitists who oppose a Republican or of course 11 other Big Ten rivals!

He will also succeed by staying true to his fiscal roots of budget cutting and overall penurious demeanor. Daniels brings to West Lafayette solid business acumen, including his time as a senior executive at Eli Lilly and tenure as director of the federal Office of Management and Budget.

Daniels should fast become a favorite of students as the governor has worked strenuously to keep costs down and supports making college affordable for all students. He played an active role in increasing the visibility of Western Governor’s University here in Indiana. And he’s no academic slouch himself, earning his bachelor’s degree at Princeton University and his law degree at Georgetown University.

With college and university costs continuing to skyrocket, “Our Man Mitch,” may very well be the answer not just for Purdue but as an example for how it might be done on campuses across the nation. Daniels could very well leave a stronger legacy in academia than in government.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Proud to be an American - Even at PS 90

Proud to be an American – Even at PS 90
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
June 12, 2012

“And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up, next to you and defend her still today. ‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land, G-d Bless the USA” – Lee Greenwood, G-d Bless the USA

If there’s an American who takes offense with the Lee Greenwood anthem, G-d Bless the USA, they are heartily invited to pack their bags and find a freer nation in which to live. In other words, America: love it or leave it! After all, no one is forced to be in the United States.

And yet, earlier this week, Greta Hawkins, principal of the Edna Cohen School on Coney Island, NY (PS 90), banned the singing of Greenwood’s song at the upcoming promotion ceremony of kindergarteners to the first grade, saying, “We don’t want to offend other cultures.”

If anything, umbrage should be taken with Hawkins for being more concerned with the reaction of non-American cultures instead of the disappointment of her students who had practiced the song for weeks in preparation of their school year ending program.

So disappointed, that one mother, Luz Lozada appeared on Fox & Friends Monday morning, June 11, with her kindergarten son to express that sadness representing almost all of the parents of the school that is ethnically diverse. Lozada’s son, however, had his moment in the sun as he sang the first verse and the refrain of the Greenwood song on live television.

Lozada said there is a large immigrant population at PS 90 and strong support for the singing of G-d Bless the USA. Instead the Justin Bieber song Baby was deemed a suitable substitute, which is about teenage love and rejection. FYI, a day later, the Bieber song was also scratched.

Greenwood also appeared on the same Fox & Friends program via telephone to discuss the song. Initially it had been reported that Hawkins took issue with the opening line of the song, but that was merely a ruse to deflect from her real concern about culture and the presence of G-d in the song.

“If tomorrow all the things were gone, I’d worked for all my life. And I had to start again with just my children and my wife,” is the first line of G-d Bless the USA. Greenwood explained that that stanza is all about the struggle his grandparents faced in losing their family farm.

What could possibly be offensive to any other culture about Greenwood’s G-d Bless the USA? An expression in pride in one’s country? An expression of gratitude to the men and women in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice? An expression of the beauty of the American country? An expression of the gratitude one has for freedom? Other cultures could be so lucky to have what Americans have in the United States.

If there are legal immigrants in this country who are offended by such a song, their loyalty to the United States must be questioned. If someone chooses the United States, their loyalty ought to be beyond reproach. Likewise, if an American decides to expatriate him or herself, he or she should be loyal to their new country of choice.

Where is our collective sense of patriotism? I am damn proud to be an American and I don’t care what anyone from any other country, culture, continent or corner of the world thinks or says about it, and nor should any other American.

It is not arrogance but confidence in knowing we live in a country that stands for something greater than itself; a nation that is repeatedly there for other countries, friend and foe alike in times of need; generous to a fault; a place where people risk their lives to get into, not sneak out of.

May G-d continue to bless the USA.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

How Exceptional are We, Really?

How Exceptional are We, Really?
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
June 12, 2012

In a demonstration of his patriotism, Frank Burns, a somewhat obsequious character on M*A*S*H once commented, “When that flag goes up the pole every morning, I go with it.”

I, too, raise the flag each morning and as one who has taught grades six through college, I was oftentimes the only teacher with an American flag in his or her classroom. But for all the patriotism and all the greatness that is the United States of America, it pains me to report that educationally, we are not exceptional any longer.

While the truth hurts, a bright light must be shone upon it and it must no longer be buried under platitudes, false hope, the watering down of the educational process and the interference by teachers’ unions that do little to ameliorate the process. Having been in the trenches, experience and wisdom is speaking.

Make no mistake; this is still the greatest country on earth – more generous than any other, going to the aid of friend and foe alike in times of need, and the place where people still look to as a beacon to legally receive the downtrodden, abused and persecuted. But greatness and patriotism does not justify the slumping of the educational system.

The United States is in a severe academic decline – a bona fide crisis preventing this and future generations of Americans from competing globally and the convergence of three sets of data drive home how badly this nation is in need of educational reform.

Heather Hollingsworth of the Associated Press outlined rather starkly in her May 29 article “Research: Remedial classes not helping,” that more and more students are graduating high school ill-prepared for the rigors of a college classroom.

“Each year, an estimated 1.7 million U.S. college students are steered to remedial classes to prepare them for regular coursework,” wrote Hollingsworth. Students are paying for these classes and oftentimes are not earning degrees, but are left with a mountain of debt in student loans.

Whether remedial math, reading or writing, the increased need for such classes by more and more so-called college students demonstrates the lessening of standards at the elementary and high school levels. And the continuation of social promotion in hopes that students will make up their shortcomings further down the academic road is fantasy.

In reality, stricter standards need to be adopted with more rigorous academic preparation for the next level – be that college, the military or the work force. Students needing more and more remedial courses in college are simply not ready for the college classroom. More than 20 years ago, former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight said that college is not for everyone. He was right then and is still right today.

The shame is in the lack of preparation at the high school level – often because teachers are expected to do more with and for less. Schools are laden with layers of high priced administrations who, more often than not, have forgotten what teaching in the classroom is all about, and teachers find themselves with little support.

Teachers are expected to be nutritionists, counselors, doctors, nurses, psychologists, parents, advocates and even clergy, while occasionally finding time to teach. Teachers are often treated as servants by administrators and parents, considered less than professional by the outside world who does not realize the teacher’s day does not end at 3 p.m. or that the school year does not end in mid-June.

Teachers often work two jobs to make ends meet, typically in order to live in or near the town/city where they teach, which is often less affordable on a teacher’s salary. Teachers take additional classes, conduct research during the summer to hone their skills and stay atop the latest technology.

Yet, too much time is spent teaching to tests instead of teaching the necessary skills and material required for today’s students to be able to compete globally. Too much time is taken by teachers forced to prepare multiple lesson plans and teach to the lowest common denominator because schools are inclusionary which hurts both the top and bottom students.

Yes, there it is in print – some students are at the top of the food chain and some are at the bottom. There seemed to be some touchy-feely need to put all academic level of student in the same classroom because mommy and daddy didn’t want the self-esteem of their little angel damaged because he or she would be in a less rigorous class based upon ability.

Here’s the dirty little secret – inclusion damages the self-esteem of the weaker academic students and holds back the stronger academic students. Strong students get easily bored while more time is spent with those less academically gifted and weaker students act out due to their frustration of not being able to keep up with their academic superiors. Again, having been in the trenches, experience and wisdom is speaking.

A second piece of data in this triumvirate is statistics from the U.S. Department of Education that support the aforementioned crisis.

The global rankings in science from first to fifth include: Finland, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Canada, with the United States trailing in 17^th place. This is according to the “Average score of 15-year-old students on science literacy scales, 2009.” (www.ed.gov)

In math, the top five nations are: Shanghai-China, Singapore, Hong Kong-China, South Korea and Chinese-Taipei. The United States languishes far down the trough in 31^st place. This is according to “Average score of 15-year-old students on math literacy scales, 2009.” (www.ed.gov)

The reading rankings have Shanghai-China, South Korea, Finland, Hong Kong-China and Singapore in the top five, with the United States down in 15^th place. This is according to “Average score of 15-year-old students on reading literacy scales, 2009.” (www.ed.gov)

These are deplorable statistics that must not be swept under the rug. It’s not funny when programs like “The Tonight Show,” depict real morons on Jay Leno’s Jaywalking segment laughing at how stupid they really are. Not being able to identify George Washington in a picture; not knowing what is in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution; not knowing the difference between there/their/they’re or your/you’re; not being able to make change in a store; not being able to calculate a 15 percent tip in a restaurant and on it goes. These are basic skills – not rocket science.

The last leg of data comes in the form of George Will’s June 11 column “Subprime college education.” While Will focused much of his excellent column on the economics of college, I culled the diversity section for these purposes.

One of the reasons the United States is in educational crisis mode is the exclusion of more American History, World History, Literature, business-style writing and real math and science classes to produce globally competitive graduates. The inclusion of touchy-feely classes should be restricted to the Oprah channel on television.

Will cites in his column that UC San Diego “lost three cancer researchers to Rice University, which offered them 40 percent pay increases.” Yet, UCSD created a vice chancellorship for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

UC Davis has a Diversity Trainers Institute as well as a “Diversity Education Series that awards Understanding Diversity Certificates in ‘Unpacking Oppression.’” And the list goes on.

Where does it end? Does it end when everyone is in touch with their feelings but can’t add two plus two or spell diversity? Back to the basics we the people must go before this nation becomes a third world calamity and a footnote to history.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Grim REPA Lowers Standards in Indy

Grim REPA Lowers Standards in Indy
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
June 1, 2012  

The sad truth behind “Lowering standards in the name of reform,” written by Gerardo Gonzalez, dean of the School of Education at Indiana University (May 27, 2012; The Indianapolis Star) is that standards will only continue to spiral downward.

Living in an era where it is better to be fair than honest; where it is better to coddle than constructively criticize; where it is better to hold a hand than occasionally swat it; where everyone is declared the winner and there are no losers and the score isn’t kept and everyone takes home a trophy because, G-d forbid, anyone’s precious self-esteem gets damaged, standards are tumbling to a level lower than a gopher’s basement.

Television commercials talk about the greatness of America, but then reveal the paltry statistics indicating how far the United States lags behind in reading, math and science to countries with fewer resources and dollars (or their foreign equivalent).

Closer to home in Indiana, Gonzalez adroitly indicates how a potential set of rule changes regarding the preparation and licensing of teachers in the Hoosier State will further water down the requirements, thus lessening the quality of the teachers and principals found in the schools.

Under REPA 2 (Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability), for example, any college graduate with a bachelor’s degree, a minimum 3.0 grade point average and passage of a content exam could qualify to become an “adjunct” teacher – even without the necessary courses that prepare one to teach in a classroom. (On the other hand, having a Master’s in Education, there is nothing to prepare anyone for the inner-city classroom awaiting rookie educators.)

Another weakening of the standards includes eliminating a requirement that special education teachers be licensed in a content area, even though they would be permitted to teach from preschool through high school. This helps no one and turns special education teachers into glorified baby sitters.

Knowledge of a content area is VITAL. A teacher can’t very well teach history unless he or she understands why the Battle of Trenton was a pivotal turning point in the American colonists winning the Revolutionary War. A person who does not have at least an undergraduate degree in the content area he or she wishes to teach, is ill prepared for the classroom.

As a history major while an undergraduate, I was disgusted to learn that in the state of New Jersey, an education major wishing to teach history merely needed two classes in the subject. Two classes do not a proficient teacher of history make.

Yet another lowering of the bar in Indiana is the eliminating of the requirement that principals earn a master’s degree. Additionally, the discussion of national accreditation of educator preparation programs has vanished from the lexicon.

All of the watering down and reduction of requirements for teachers and principals serves to better no one. The continuation of lowering standards will make students in the United States softer, less educated and less prepared to face the competition of the real world that parents and teachers alike are avoiding at the salvation of their precious children’s self-esteem, which sadly, ultimately, will take an unmerciful beating in the future.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Thou Shalt not Speak Ill of the President

Thou Shalt not Speak Ill of the President
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
May 22, 2012

Obama defense hysteria continues to grow disproportionately out of control to the point that this plague is infecting the young minds in the public schools.

Tanya Dixon-Neely, a social studies teacher at North Rowan High School in Spencer, NC, threatened students in her class that they could be arrested for “speaking ill of the president.” The comment was recorded by a classmate of junior Hunter Rogers, the student with whom Dixon-Neely had an exchange about Barack Obama and Mitt Romney each having a past history involving an incident of bullying.

Romney’s alleged bullying has been front page news, splashed across the pages of The Washington Post ad nauseum, while Obama admitted to his bullying within the confines of one of his penned books, Dreams from My Father, where he tells of shoving a girl to the ground. When Hunter mentioned this incident, first Dixon-Neely claimed to have no knowledge of Obama’s indiscretion, but knew of Romney’s, then reminded Hunter of how it is wrong to disrespect the president.

“As a teacher, I am not supposed to allow you to disrespect the president,” Dixon-Neely said in the recorded exchange.

“I was shocked by this kind of behavior in the school,” said Hunter’s mother Gina Rogers during the Fox & Friends interview, adding she didn’t know it was “this extreme…. She is not teaching factual information Rogers said of Dixon-Neely.

Congratulations to Hunter for standing his ground, and doing so with sourced facts – a vital skill all students need.

While not released by the Rowan-Salisbury School District, Dixon-Neely’s name had been discerned by Breitbart News. And also, while not initially reprimanded for her actions, Dixon-Neely has been suspended with pay.

Hunter told the Fox News morning broadcast Fox & Friends on Tuesday, May 22 that there are typically “open discussions” in Dixon-Neely’s class, yet, further said, “she doesn’t want to hear anything but what she believes in.” This, of course, runs counter to the generous notion of open discussions.

Instead of stifling free speech, the teacher should encourage a “fair and balanced” exchange, to borrow a slogan.

“If you disagree, you get berated and put down,” said Hunter, adding “I just decided to get some proof…. “I’ve been taught that no one can take your opinion… or your freedom of speech.”

Hunter’s unnamed friend’s recording of the class proceedings a week ago clearly depict a teacher who, aside from having a poor command of the English language, is also deeply in the tank for Obama, defending him at every turn.

Dixon-Neely also demonstrates a lack of subject matter knowledge, particularly history and the Constitution, by telling the class they could be arrested for “speaking ill of the president,” yet, hypocritically, was called to the carpet by Hunter regarding Dixon-Neely’s foul-mouthed epithet about former President George W. Bush.

Hunter said on the recorded exchange that everybody talked shit about Bush, to which Dixon-Neely responded that Bush was shitty. Yet nothing was said of the language used in Dixon-Neely’s classroom, which is wholly unacceptable by both student and teacher, but the teacher should know better and her usage of the vulgarity is akin to a tacit acceptance by her student’s use.

Having taught grades six through college, opining on political issues is both volatile and frowned upon by administrations at times with stern repercussions. That it took days for the Rowan-Salisbury School District to suspend Dixon-Neely is disturbing – that should have been a no-brainer. That she should be given a vacation – her suspension is with pay – is unconscionable.

Dixon-Neely should not only lose her job, but be stripped of any tenure she may have accumulated. No doubt the teachers union will be defending Dixon-Neely at every turn, demonstrating that the union is there for the weak and ineffective teachers, not the good and effective educators, in a system that only continues to fail the children in the public schools.

Clearly this is a social studies teacher who lacks basic knowledge of law, history and the United States Constitution – three of the tenets of the subject that she allegedly is an expert, let alone in which she is instructing others. Ironically, a fortune find in a cookie just last night read: “to teach is to learn twice.” Did Dixon-Neely even learn once?

A message must be sent that the classrooms are not for political propaganda or for mesmerizing students into becoming drones and liberal hacks.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Obama Should Do His Own Homework

Obama Should Do His Own Homework
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
March 22, 2012

Coming to a public school near you – your children are enlisted as political operatives?

Be careful, parents, if you are not paying attention to the curriculum and the assignments thrust upon your children in their social studies or American history classes, the continued far-left indoctrination will march on unfettered.

Although the case of Liberty Middle School teacher Michael Denman occurred in Fairfax County, Virginia, it is not unimaginable that such a situation couldn’t occur in your local school district whether in a red or a blue state.

Denman ordered his eighth grade students, typically ages 13 to 14, to research the Republican candidates running for president, determine what their weak spots are, and write a report detailing how best those weaknesses could be exploited by the Obama reelection campaign, as initially reported in The Daily Caller. http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/22/va-middle-schoolers-assigned-to-do-oppo-research-on-gop-candidates/

While there was no debate over that aspect of the assignment, there was conflict concerning whether or not the students were required to submit their findings to the Obama reelection campaign committee. The class assignment called for such a submission, while Fairfax County Public Schools spokesman John Torre said sending the report of the GOP candidates’ vulnerabilities was not required.

Unfortunately, there was no condemnation of the nature of the assignment in the first place coming from Torre, nor was there any disciplinary action meted out against Denman for such a clearly one-sided assignment.

Denman’s attempt to take advantage of his position of authority over impressionable youths with an assignment of unmistakable bias is part of what is wrong with the public schools today. In fact, by having his students research one side of the aisle, Denman, a civics honor’s teacher at Liberty Middle School, has gone contrary to the school’s name as such an assignment limits people’s liberty.

Research is certainly a productive teaching tool for students. However, vet all the candidates; hold a school assembly with students debating the issues while representing the candidates. Decorate the school with posters and banners, then, hold a mock primary in the spring and a mock general election in the fall. Having taught socials studies and American history, these are successful, hands-on teaching tools.

Let this be a teachable moment for Mr. Denman, who should face some measure of discipline. Other teachers have been punished for lesser offenses.

Indoctrination in the public schools, which happens far too often, typically goes unchecked. Share an opinion if students ask, but clearly state that is precisely what it is – an opinion that does not require agreement. This is a cautionary tale for teachers and schools across the fruited plain.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

This column appeared on: http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-indianapolis/sanford-horn

Food, Glorious Slop

“FOOD FIGHT!” – John “Bluto” Blutarsky

Food, Glorious Slop

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 16, 2012

The hypocrisy of the Obama administration continues to march on like the Nazis in 1939 Poland. This time they have invaded the lunch boxes of school children.

Thanks to government edicts from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the food police are inspecting the lunch boxes and brown bags to see if mom or dad has packed what government deems an appropriate midday repast.

Since when is a turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, potato chips and apple juice an unacceptable lunch? Sounds like a good lunch to me – except for the turkey and cheese combo – but then I keep kosher, so either the turkey or the cheese would work independently.

Apparently in Hoke County, NC, such a lunch did not pass muster, as a four-year-old preschooler attending West Hoke Elementary School was terrorized by the food police being told her lunch was substandard while having a government-authorized school lunch thrust upon her. Terrorized, because a four-year-old is being told the lunch packed by mom is wrong.

Just what did the government determine was a better alternative for this four-year-old? Chicken nuggets – processed, battered, fried pieces of unidentifiable chicken parts. And adding insult to injury, the school sent the girl home with her original lunch in tact with a note telling mom she would also be charged $1.25 for the food forced upon her daughter. Apparently the mom-made lunch lacked vegetables, which was given to her daughter, was in turn were rejected.

The mother emphasized her daughter does not like vegetables, but under her supervision she can get the child to eat some. Yet, the lunch had fruit – a banana, which even my niece, when she was three-years-old, knew is high in potassium. And sliced turkey and cheese versus processed and fried chicken nuggets is a no-brainer as well.

Did the food police ever stop to contemplate potential allergies this four-year-old girl might have? Is a four-year-old equipped to tell the food police what she can’t eat or drink? Perhaps she was on a gluten-free diet – the sandwich eliminates that notion. Perhaps she was lactose intolerant – the food police gave her milk. Perhaps she observed kashrut – the turkey and cheese excludes that idea. Perhaps she has a nut allergy. What kind of oil were the chicken nuggets fried in – peanut, canola, vegetable?

Full disclosure, I was a foodie before the word existed. In fact, I was almost thrown out of junior high school as a seventh grader for authoring a petition against the school cafeteria food, calling it “slop.” My parents, both of Blessed memory, were called into school to meet with the principal due to my disruptive and scurrilous activities – I dared question authority.

My father wasn’t sure which tact to take – either kick my ass for having my parents summonsed to the principal’s office or congratulate me for using my First Amendment rights of speech and petition as taught to me at that very school.

It’s no wonder the following year in our eighth grade musical I was given “Food, Glorious Food,” from Oliver to sing throughout our three day run.

Having taught in urban public and charter schools, I can attest first hand to what is passing as school lunches. Fried, oil-laden, carb-rich offerings riddled with salt and sugary desserts. Sure there is some fruit – canned or fresh, but rarely consumed. One school at which I taught had a salad bar – but, alas, for teachers and staff only.

The invasion by the food police is just another sterling example of government overreaching into places it does not belong. Our freedoms are being eroded one by one and far too many Americans are standing idly by allowing their freedoms to be stripped away. This administration continues to count on ignorance and apathy in order to ensure full governmental control of our lives, from the bedroom to the board room and from the school house to G-d’s house.

We the people are ignorant because we do not know the law and the Constitution. We the people are apathetic because outside of our little corner of the world we realize how little control we have, and therefore we do not speak up.

Well, it’s high time we raise our voices in unison and tell the government to STOP. The Obama administration, nor any other administration, cannot spend our money better than we can. Nor can they make better food choices than we can. Nor can they tell us how to pray. And they certainly can’t raise our children better than we can.

This is an administration run by ultra-liberals who don’t want anyone peering into their bedrooms, or being asked for photo identification when voting, but they’re real quick to inspect children’s lunch boxes, tell us what light bulbs to use and what kind of cars to drive. Yet, this is the same Obama administration smashing the Constitution to smithereens by forcing religion-run institutions to violate their principles, and demanding under financial penalty that we the people must buy a product we may not want.

When will it end? If it does not end on November 6 this year, it may never end. If this regime is not turned out of office this year, we may not recognize this country in another four years. Certainly the Founding Fathers won’t; and that’s not hyperbole.

Now, before I enjoy my lunch of a turkey sandwich on a bagel, a banana, some b-b-q potato chips and a cup of green tea – don’t report me to the food police – I offer this quote from one of our great Founding Fathers, Patrick Henry:

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.