Saint Paul Greens and Education

Normally, I couldn't care less about the platforms or "visions" olf minor parties. I'd be hard-pressed to post the "visions" of the Constitution Party, the Socialist Workers, the Libertarians...

But the Greens in the Twin Cities are another matter. They're a minor party, to be sure - but one that exists amid a population of ageing ex-hippies and dozey college kids taught by - well, ex-hippies.

So the Greens have found disproportionate success in the Twin Cities; the Minneapolis City Council includes a few Greens, and parts of Saint Paul are just whacked out to do the same.

The local Green boss has been publishing the Saint Paul Green Party's "vision" for the city on a saint paul politics listserve. I'm re-posting them without permission - it's public stuff, what are they gonna do?

The problem with the Greens is that, inside all the post-hippie dreck, there are some decent ideals - things almost anyone can believe in. There are also a few policies that are useful - at a very, very low level, anyway. But you put it all together, and slather on a layer of the joyless, puritan sanctimony that the Greens bring to everything...

...well, let's just get into it.

The quality of public schools is a measure of a community's belief in its people and its future.

The Green vision includes schools in which each child is nurtured and
encouraged to develop to his/her full potential, not just as a member
of the work force but as an informed citizen and a well-rounded human
being.

Hard to argue with that, right?

Of course, the devil is in the details:

It honors teaching as one of the most important functions in the community and supports that function with adequate funding and small class sizes.

Ah. "Honor".

Our society "honors" teachers plenty. It's an important job, doncha know. But at the end of the day, the teacher still works in a stultifying bureaucracy, as part of a union that refuses to "honor" teachers that actually throw themselves into being great teachers.

It fosters creativity and appreciation for all forms of art.

I'm all for that, by the way; the "All Three Rs, All The Time" idea that's become a fetish among some conservatives is deeply misguided.

Unfortunately, to the Greens and their deeply (myopically) communitarian view, schools aren't just a place where kids learn. Last year, they endorsed Richard Broderick for the school board:

In order for our society to adopt these values -- as it must, if we are to survive on this planet -- we need to nurture the instinctively Green consciousness of our young people through the comprehensive application of these principles to curriculum, instruction, administration, and district-wide decision-making processes.

Got that? School is here to "nurture instinctively Green consciousness". That's called "indoctrination" - creating a generation of little Greens.

It's in the "vision", too:

It includes instruction and practice in conflict-resolution and peaceful solutions to interpersonal and social problems.

In a Green city that values nonviolence, programs such as ROTC and
military recruitment would have no place in the schools, along with
corporate influence over instructional materials.

"Peaceful resolution", no JROTC or military recruitment...

...in other words, not only do they want to indoctrinate children into the Green lifestyle, but they want to add the politics, too.

Participatory sports would be especially encouraged.

Above all, in the Green vision education is a lifelong enterprise, and
there will be abundant opportunities for adults to pursue it.

Small classes, lifetime education...

...where is all that money coming from?

That's later in the "vision".

Posted by Mitch at July 19, 2005 06:51 AM | TrackBack