Introduction Many, if not most, people view public education as a free service to educate children and help them become upstanding adults who benefit their community. Fewer think of the public school as a government institution, and even less think of the public school as a political institution. However, if a closer look is taken at today’s public schools, it is evident that characteristics of process philosophy are present and are being used by the government to promote their political goals. Consider the following for example: Government bureaucrats dictate what is taught in the classrooms and how it is taught. Government-trained or government-certified teachers run the classrooms, where they are required to use government-approved curricula, lesson plans, and textbooks. The so-called “public” schools are therefore more properly called government schools; and, because their essential characteristic is force, they are properly classified as political institutions (Thompson, 2012, p. 14). As the United States becomes increasingly liberal in its legislation, Christian practices are being prohibited and Christians are …show more content…
On state, national, and international tests, American academic preparedness is at an all-time low. In every major academic subject-from reading to arithmetic, from history to physics-American students know less and less. They know less relative to American students from one hundred years ago, and they know less relative to students from other countries today (Thompson, 2012, p. 27). This does not sound like progress at all. In fact, this would be described as regression, the total opposite of progressivism. Educational achievement is at an all time low, and will continue its decline as long as the progressive philosophy is allowed to dictate how students are taught.