Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | TuneIn | RSS | More

Show Summary: Marc Thielman, superintendent of Alsea School District (the only school to stay open all through the 2020 covid lockdowns), Republican candidate for Oregon governor, and chief petitioner for real school choice in Oregon. He joins us to talk about just why school choice is so needed in Oregon.

The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: December 18th & 19th, 2021 | Guest: Marc Thielman

This week: Marc Thielman, superintendent of Alsea School District (the only school to stay open all through the 2020 covid lockdowns), republican candidate for Oregon governor, and chief petitioner for real school choice in, joins us to talk about why it’s so needed in Oregon

School Choice? Real School Choice? In Oregon? Wait, What…?

Yes. It’s true. Oregon just might get school choice. Thanks to on again, off again, covid lockdowns that follow whatever pops into Governor Kate Brownshirt’s head.

“Trust the science” has been one of the most persistent lies over the last two years. If you dare question the science, you’re ridiculed and labeled ‘misinformation.’ That’s not how science works. That’s not even how trust works. It is the business of science to question science. Instead, you’re told to shut up and put your mask on. Because our science says so.
– Mark Anderson

This week, we talk with Marc Thielman, who is chief petitioner on the ballot initiative to bring real school choice to Oregon. This ballot initiative would allow parents to put their children in a school of their choice. Whether that’s another public school, a charter school, home school, or a “micro school” — a modern-day version of an old-time, one-room schoolhouse.

Why Real School Choice is So Needed

Just to give people an idea of why school choice is so important, the Corvallis School District thinks math is racist. Or that teaching math is racist. Or, perhaps what they really think is people of color aren’t smart enough to get math, so they need to hold White kids back? Really? So they are dumping all kids, regardless of skill or competency, into the same class. No more advanced classes. No more slower track classes. Everyone will be forced into the same mold. Because everyone must be the same. Or at least not allowed to be different. And certainly not excel. Because that would be racist. 

Imagine being a secondary school coordinator being this woke and not realizing how incredibly racist this sounds:

“I was able to walk into classes and identify whether they were a low or high track math class just based on the color of the students’ skin.”

So. What happens if a Black kid excels at math? Is it fair to hold them back and discourage them from excelling? Gosh. The problems you create when you see racism in everything. (Psst! That makes you the racist.)

How Real School Choice in Oregon would Work

Technically, parents have school choice. Sort of. The way it works now is the State “allows” parents to take their kids elsewhere to another school. But. They are punished financially by having to pay extra expenses (in addition to the taxes they already pay) for doing so. While their current school keeps all the money. That’s not real choice. (Although, it is a bit like the government saying, “Oh, we’re not forcing you to take the vaccine. But we’ll make sure you lose your job if you don’t.”) As it is, 100% of the public funds allotted to that child stays with the public school district the child is currently assigned to that child—regardless of where the child ends up. 

The current system means only rich people get to have school choice. They’re the only ones who can afford the extra expenses.

The way Real School Choice works is a portion of the public funding dollars already attached to a child goes with that child wherever the child goes. This truly opens the door for parents to put their child in the school that is the best fit for their child.

Tune in to hear the rest of the details and why Real School Choice is SO important for Oregon parents right now.

Yes, Virginia, Oregon is promoting Critical Race Theory. And that’s not even the worst of it.

The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version

Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—catch the podcast version. I Spy Radio is now available on your favorite platform, or you can grab it right here. See the full list of podcast options.

Links & Info

• UK Study on kids 23%:  COVID rules are blamed for 23% dive in young children’s cognitive development: Disturbing study shows scores in three key cognitive tests slumped between 2018 and 2021, with face mask rules among possible culprits (UK Daily Mail, Nov 26, 2021)
  • New study by Brown University found face masks and other social distancing measures may in fact impede on children’s development*A whopping 23 per cent drop in IQ equivalent scores since the start of the pandemic
• Corvallis School District changes the way it teaches math because math is racist or something (Gazette Times, Dec 13, 2021)
  • As a result of these changes, more parents started enrolling their children in private school, hiring tutors or homeschooling, at least according to the critics.
  • YES → “I think we’re going to further create inequalities by doing something like this because families with resources are going to do what they need to do,” Jesse Wegner said, “as opposed to having those equitable resources at school for everybody.”
  • Which is WHY you need school choice.
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules Mask Mandate For School Children Is Illegal (DJHJ Media, Dec 12, 2021)
  • “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday made a ruling to remove a mask mandate for school children that was put into place by the Tom Wolf administration.”
  • “In June, the state legislature voted 31-19 (62%) in the Senate and 121-81 (60%) in the House to remove his emergency powers for COVID.”
  • “The state’s high court upheld a lower court’s ruling that Alison Beam, the state’s acting health secretary, did not have the authority to issue a requirement for masks, didn’t follow state legislation regarding establishing regulations, and acted without a “required” existing disaster emergency declared by the governor in place.”
• Marc Thielman’s gubernatorial candidacy website is marcfororegon.com
• ‘Ritual humiliation’: Unvaccinated children put in front of classroom (WND Dec 12, 2021)
  • “Some schoolchildren in Germany have been asked each day to go in front of their class and state their vaccination status, resulting in applause for some and scorn for others.”
  • “The children who are unvaccinated, he said, must explain to their classmates why they are not.”
• California Schools Phase Out D and F Grades (Moonbattery, Dec 12, 2021)
  • What they’re really concerned about is how this makes bureaucrats look. 

Further & Related Info

• The US spends more on education than other countries. Why is it falling behind? (UK Guardian, Sep 7, 2018)
  • “[U.S.] Spending per student exceeds the OECD average but the likes of Finland and South Korea get better results. What are they doing right and what can the US learn from them?”
  • According to the Organization for Economic Coordination and Development, “In 2014, the US spent an average of $16,268 [per year, per student] to educate a pupil from primary through tertiary ([college)] education… well above the global average of $10,759.”
    • BUT this 2014 figure of $16,268 per year per student had more than doubled just four years later also according to the OECD, to a whopping $34,036 per student per year. Source: https://data.oecd.org/eduresource/education-spending.htm (latest data set available is 2016–2018)