Long-Awaited Book Finally Arrives! The Harsh Truth About Public Schools

Bruce Shortt has produced a devastating indictment of our public school system, which he believes is not only destroying the intelligence of our children, but is wreaking havoc with our moral and spiritual future. The book is a veritable encyclopedia of educational failure, corruption, and malfeasance by those who run the system. He has written this book as a warning to Christian parents that their children are in mortal peril and must be removed from these schools if their Christian souls are to be saved.

It was Bruce Shortt and his colleague T.C. Pinckney who co-sponsored the Christian Education Resolution, submitted for consideration at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. It called for Southern Baptist parents to remove their children from the government schools and provide them with a true Christian education at home or in a church school. The Convention could have made history had it adopted the resolution, but the delegates were simply not ready to take such a revolutionary step.

What Parents Don’t Know

Christian parents simply don’t know what is going on in the secular, anti-Christian public schools. These schools are turning millions of Christian children away from Christ and leading them to atheism, nihilism, secular humanism, pantheism, New-Age occultism, Eastern religion, and even Marxism.

The author states: “The fact is that government schools are killing our children spiritually, morally, and intellectually …. The ‘little red schoolhouse’ has effectively become a pagan seminary nurturing our children in alien creeds,” which are “transforming our families, our churches, our culture, and our society.” And he cites statistics that back up his statements.

That’s what makes this book so reliable. Shortt backs up all of his assertions with extensive documentation. He places much of the blame of our Christian decline on ministers. He writes: “About 85% of Christian children attend government schools, but the message that Christian parents are obligated to provide a Christian education to their children is seldom heard from the pulpit.”

Obviously ministers need to read this book if a true Christian revival is to take place in America. Getting them to read it is going to be the author’s toughest job. But the ministers needn’t read the entire book to get the impact of its message. Its chapters on sex education or the drugging of children with Ritalin or the testing fraud or the dumbing down of the children or the homosexual agenda should be enough shock and awe to wake up anyone.

Shortt also provides the reader with a detailed history of how government schools have gone from being non-Christian to anti-Christian, beginning with the Supreme Court’s Everson decision.1 As a result, New-Age spirituality has invaded the classrooms in full force, introducing children to “spirit guides,” “transcendental meditation,” and other occult practices.

An English teacher in an Ohio high school assigned sophomores the task of writing and signing a contract with the Devil, Satan, Lucifer, a genie, a witch, or a warlock. The contract was to specify what the student wanted from Satan, for example, and three things he or she was willing to give up in return. When parents found out about the assignment and complained to the principal, he defended the teacher who had merely made a mistake. When asked if he would approve of the students writing a contract with God, Christ, Jesus, etc., he responded that that would be a violation of the separation of church and state.

A Battle Lost

Neither Christ nor Christians can win in the government schools. Shortt also provides us with alarming evidence of the rise of juvenile crime, the increase in drug abuse, the increase in the use of filthy language, the decline in modesty in dress, the practice of freak dancing (simulated sex acts performed to Hip Hop or Rap music), the increase in sexual promiscuity and perversion, unwed pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and emotional traumas among students.

At a middle school assembly in Broward County, Florida, school officials encouraged the children to engage in sex, encouraged girls to carry condoms, promoted abortion, and told the children that it was okay to lie to their parents.

There is also a strong drive all across America to introduce the gay agenda in the schools so that children from K to 12 can be taught that the gay lifestyle is perfectly normal and that even pedophilia has its positive points. The chapter on ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is particularly alarming as well as enlightening. Four to six million children are currently on Ritalin and other psychotropic drugs because of ADHD. Yet, ADHD is not a real disease! It was invented by the psychiatrists.

Shortt also has chapters on the delusion of school reform, the teachers’ unions and their involvement in Democratic party politics, and their incessant pressure on Congress and state legislatures to increase spending on “education.” And the more money is spent, the worse things get, for the money is simply used to buy more miseducation.

A Godly Solution

But there are solutions. Shortt writes: “Christian education isn’t something to turn to reluctantly. Rather, we should embrace it with a sense of joy and hope.” And the burgeoning Christian homeschool movement proves how right he is. If you want to see young Christian families enjoying education and enjoying their children, just attend one of the many homeschool conventions held all across America each year.

Shortt provides the parent with a whole chapter on homeschooling and its benefits. He leaves nothing to chance, as you will notice with his almost 100 pages of endnotes. Just as parents will purchase a medical manual for home reference, they should purchase this book for the same practical purpose: to preserve the spiritual, mental, and physical health of their children.

A word about the author: Bruce N. Shortt attended public schools through 12th grade. His mother was a public school nurse and both his grandmothers were public school teachers. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, has a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and was a Fulbright Scholar. He serves on the board of directors for the Houston Ebony Music Society and the Exodus Mandate. He is a member of North Oaks Baptist Church and currently practices law in Houston, where he resides with his wife and their homeschooled sons.

Notes

1. Everson provided the “wall of separation between church and state” language that has been used to secularize government schools and erase any sign of Christianity from these institutions.

Webmaster's Note: The Harsh Truth About Public Schools is published by Chalcedon, now available for purchase by click here.