THE CHILDREN TRAP by Robert L. Thoburn

Robert Thoburn is a signee/non-committee member of the Coalition on Revival (COR), a think tank for religious right leaders. Their manifesto states under section 12, Education: "Work toward replacing all local public schools with private schools by 2000 A.D."

In his book, The Children Trap, Thoburn claims that public schools constitute a "state-established church" which teaches the religion of humanism--a 'trap' designed to indoctrinate Christian children against their 'true faith.' Furthermore, politicians have enacted "laws that compel Christian families to send their children into unsafe, drug-infested, humanist-dominated, anti-Christian sink holes (public schools)."

The two-fold purpose of his book is to promote private Christian education and provide a blueprint for the destruction of free public education, because reforming public schools, he says, would be as useful as reforming whorehouses. He urges all citizens to participate in this effort by voting against all bond issues and protesting all attempts to raise taxes.

Thoburn also recommends that Christians run for school boards, (but send their children to Christian schools). Once on the board, "The goal is to shut down the public schools, not in some revolutionary way, but step by step, school by school, district by district...."

"Termite Tactics"

The following is a summary of what Thoburn calls "Termite Tactics," which provide a road map for radical right operatives to use in their attempts "to shut down the public schools."

• "Run on a platform of increasing school efficiency. This means cost-cutting."

• "Be an instant nice guy....be incredibly affable and friendly....You will need 'good guy' votes when you start gently pressing for...reform."

• "You can't destroy the system by yourself, so don't try. You can do your best to gum up the system with a smile on your face."

• "When the board proposes something you don't want, try to avoid a head-on collision. Instead, ask questions, raise doubts, appear confused ...request a study by the school's lawyer, suggest further study of the results..."

• "Start pushing for larger classes and fewer teachers."

• "Personally investigate the curriculum."

• Demand the board "be given full written reports from all those who attend taxpayer-financed meetings of any kind....if they have to produce detailed reports, they may decide not to go to so many meetings."

• "Get the board to pass a local "no pass-no play" rule for sports. Make it apply to all extra-curricular activities."

• Protest if a coach is being fired just because he has produced some losing teams. ("There is nothing like a losing sports record to cool the vocal minority of sports fanatics' support of the local high school.")

• "...keep alive the question of student safety."

• "...get schools to submit to lots of standardized tests--the more the better. You need statistical proof of the decline of your local schools...."

• Get "a total financial audit. If there was an audit recently, then insist on another one by an outside firm. This costs money, but....It will paralyze the bureaucrats with fear...."

• "Try to get the board to impose a merit pay system on teachers."

• "Find out the true market the value of teachers." Place ads in college newspapers asking for teachers at a starting salary of 10% less than currently paid. Send applications to anyone who responds. You will get an applicant pool of young, mobile, probably single people who need jobs and who are willing to work for less than the current minimum. The point is to show that local teachers are "way overpaid." When teachers request a raise, pull out your list and say that you have X number of applicants who are willing to work for 10% less than the lowest paid teacher currently on the payroll. If the teachers "squawk," don't rehire the untenured ones. Pressure tenured teachers to quit. "Make them do every crummy job that the contracts allow the board to get away with....Make it clear to them that they will never teach another B or A student, and that they will never again get a raise. Never say so publicly....The more untenured, lower-paid, recently hired teachers are employed in your schools, the lower their wages need to be."

  Thoburn concludes this last section by saying, "Who knows, maybe the strikers will shut down the whole public school system. If so, you have done your work well. Our ultimate long term goal is simple: 'Shut it down!'"

  The Children Trap
  by Robert L. Thoburn
  [Robert Thoburn has owned and operated the private Fairfax Christian School since 1961. The Thoburns have recently opened two Christian Schools in Loudoun County, one on Lowes Island Blvd. and one in Round Hill.]
  Editor's Introduction by Gary North
  Dominion Press, Fort Worth, Texas. 1986.
  Vol. 6 of the Biblical Blueprint Series

  
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