I have described elsewhere how the ND Constitution has a Judeo-Christian context which include the morals summarized by the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were not and are not a dead historical document or sectarian. They are a living authority from the living God, on how to live, which includes how to teach and operate schools.
Two points show the reasonableness of this practical use of the Ten Commandments. 1) More than two-thirds of Americans in 1776 knew how to apply the Ten Commandments in daily life and school, because they were taught in both churches and schools. That implementation of the Ten Commandments is what made America great. 2) Exodus 20:1-27 contain the Ten Commandments which are a summary of the moral law elaborated by the rest of Scripture.
Question: How do we solve the school problem of low test scores using the Ten Commandments?
Answer: Apply the first, fifth, and ninth commandments.
Explanation:
- First commandment (1C) teaches that the state or federal government should not be viewed as God.
- Fifth commandment (5C) teaches that there is legitimate authority and parents have the God given authority to direct the education of their children.
- Ninth commandment (9C) teaches that we cannot teach false philosophies to anyone.
Rubber on Road:
- Replace current reading, writing, and arithmetic books (resources) with books that do not contain the false teachings of secularism, Marxism, postmodernism, new spirituality or Islam. Each parent group at each school may want to choose different books. Much learning time will be gained from this step alone.
- Identify teachable teachers, administrators, and organizations who were simply not aware of the false philosophies and train them to recognize and help eliminate them completely from North Dakota education. Dismiss those who are committed to social engineering using false philosophies.
- Use 0 to 100 grading per student reported to parents, not the state or federal government, and remove any incentives to pass students without learning.
- Eliminate standardized testing which are designed to dumb down with short answers, put pressure on students and teachers, and waist time teaching to a national social agenda.
- Initiate legislation to acknowledge these better approaches to curriculum standards, teacher standards, and testing reality.
Notes:
This post shows the Level 2 detail of solving one practical school problem using the ND Constitution. Elaboration and references can be provided for all points later.
