I just completed the Wake County Public Schools’ survey for parents regarding their school scheduling and assignment preferences. If the founding fathers were completing the survey, I think they would be in a tizzy.
There’s a book I’d like to recommend to the Wake County school board. It’s called The Federalist Papers. It was written a long time ago by some famous guys, so maybe they read it in school? Maybe not. Here’s a link to Wake County’s Public Schools’ video instruction on the topic.
The video details the anti-Federalist ideas for why individual rights (ultimately culminating in the Bill of Rights) were important in a federal system of government. Wake County’s instruction fails to note Federalists’ position that the federal system protects individuals by protecting the minority from the tyranny of the majority. Our Constitution as enacted reflects a delicate balance of both positions.
Individual rights are guaranteed, but only in the most extraordinary circumstances (i.e. Constitutional amendments) does the public vote directly on issues. There is a really good reason for this.
Alexander Hamilton and James Madison stated in 1788: “It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure.” The Federalist #51.
Why are the rights of the minority insecure? Because a riled-up majority will act in its own interest to the detriment of a minority. “The danger of disturbing the public tranquility by interesting too strongly the public passions is a still more serious objection against a frequent reference of . . . questions to the decision of the whole society.” The Federalist #49.
There is no more insecure minority than school children, and there is no greater disservice to those children who most need public education in Raleigh than making decisions for them based on the convenience of suburban parents.
Recently a cadre of mostly suburban transplants from white-flight school districts in other states wrested control of the Wake County School Board. We have had a huge influx of immigrants to North Carolina. It’s nice here, and one of the reasons the newcomers choose Wake County is because we have good schools. Wake County’s rocket to stardom as a place to live threatens to leave many behind, notably poor non-whites in the Raleigh city limits.
While Wake County has received national kudos for being a example of desegregation done right, the new school board members seek to dismantle years of work on the thorny problem of how to serve populations with different needs. The survey is promulgated to create evidence for more “neighborhood schools” in Wake County. The survey does not address the quality of education parents want for their children – it is concerned only with convenience.
Wake County parents: Your interests and convenience do matter. But as you answer the survey, be aware that it is crafted in order to produce evidence to bolster the preexisting agenda of the new school board. You are the tool of the new regime.
When you seek to influence policy based on your personal convenience, which is all the survey addresses, think about those children downtown who don’t have that luxury. It sucks to move into a house you can’t afford to keep your kid in the public school you prefer (a complaint I have heard from numerous parents), but what a lovely dilemma to have.
Next time you feel so inconvenienced by your children’s school schedule that you consider running for election, you should read The Federalist Papers to them. Don’t worry if it’s over your head – your kids will understand it.
Author’s note: I was bused from North Raleigh to a downtown school in 1976-77. In high school, I attended a “neighborhood school” that hosted revival meetings during school hours and tested the limits of de facto segregation after being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice. I’ve been an unwitting subject of a great many public school experiments. Busing is far better than closed minds.
This post originally appeared on the author’s blog, The Lucky Grasshopper.
indieregister.wordpress.com 
The schools of America cannot teach history. If they did it would have to be arranged so that the students did not learn what really happened. If they were taught the truth, then it could cause a revolt. Just learning the Constitution is a major wake up call. It worked for me and I am a BETTER person because of it. I thank Mr. Micheal Badnarik for that.
Wondering if you have any ideas for educating a teeming diverse populace? Do you think we need to do that? I read Art 1 of the Constitution again last night and think there is an implicit constitutional imperative toward education of the populace. There is an explicit educational imperative in the North Carolina Constitution. Freedom from ignorance is freedom, period. So, as lovers of the Constitution, how do we make sure that we comply with the two governing documents of our sovereigns?
helpful post.