Milton Friedman’s film series “Free to Choose” Episode on Education part 4. It was Friedman’s voucher plan that was put into practice in Sweden in 1993.
I am in Florida at a convention center and I got to talking to someone and found out that he graduated at Central in Little Rock in 1977 and he played on the state championship football team in 1975 with Houston Nutt. Actually he told me that Houston was not the only player off that team that played college ball. Robert Farrell (wide receiver, Arkansas), Emmanuel Tolbert (running back, SMU), and Reggie Perry (running back, ?).
Are kids getting a good education today versus 30 years ago? One thing is for sure and that is liberals still oppose competition that the voucher system would bring.
DL: Have students in Sweden improved academically under the voucher system?
TI: The educational results data speak for themselves. On average, the independent schools show better student achievement than the public schools.
Let me just give you a few examples from some very clear indicators. The average “merit value” is actually an average of the grade points (each grade gives a certain amount of points) for all students in all subjects in the ninth grade. This means that every single student has his/her own merit value, but that the average merit value is calculated based on all students that particular year in that particular class, school, city/municipality, country, etc. By the summer of 2008 (the most current information available), the merit value average of the whole compulsory school in Sweden was 209 points (with a maximum possible value of 320, indicating highest grades in all subjects). The public schools averaged 207 points, while the independent schools proved to have 227 points!
This significant difference has been in place for many years. In the last years, with an increased competition from a steadily increasing amount of independent schools, the total merit value average of the whole compulsory school actually has begun to rise. In upper secondary education, the pattern is about the same.
Another way of measuring results is to adjust for socio-economic factors and look at what could be an expected outcome of learning regarding the students’ background. This is called “SALSA value,” a Swedish acronym for The National Board of Education Analysis Tool for Local Correlation Analyses. There is no national summarizing of SALSAs, but if you look into the single cities and municipalities, you often find independent schools getting the best SALSA results. This means that many independent schools educate their students better than expected if students’ socio-economic background is taken into consideration.
If you want to adjust for possible “grade inflation,” you can just look at the results of the national tests that are being carried out for the key subjects of the curriculum and in exactly the same manner all over Sweden in both public and independent schools. The rate of students reaching the two highest grade levels in all key subjects are at least 10 percent higher for independent schools compared to public schools.
I am in Central Florida and today was the liftoff for the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. I learned when I went to rent a car a couple of days ago that most of the people that rented cars a few days ago for the Daytona 500 did not return them because of the upcoming Discovery takeoff.
It is sad to me that our government does not have much money because of the wasteful stimulus law and other sad attempts to buy ourselves out of this recession. Now programs like our space program will suffer because of all these ploys by the Democrats. Pawlenty is right when he says our federal government has got way too big.
I wanted to include some posts from the article “Excerpts: Tim Pawlenty’s Courage to Stand.” Former Minnesota Governor Discusses Losing the VP Slot to Sarah Palin and How President Obama ‘Broke His Promise’ in His New Book:”
Pawlenty on describing his philosophy toward government that echoes tea party principles:
“Endless government growth becomes a form of tyranny. When the government takes up more and more space — space that was previously reserved for individuals, families, the faith community, charities, markets and the private sector — the result is more displacement, discouragement, disincentive, and dependency. As government swells to become nearly everyone’s financial nanny, freedom and personal responsibility are diminished.”
Pawlenty on a heated meeting he had as a legislator with then-Gov. Jesse Ventura, who was mad at Pawlenty for accusing the former Navy Seal of leaving taxpayers “behind enemy lines.”:
“The hockey player and wrestling fan in me would have some taken pride in surviving a Jesse Ventura smackdown. But the apology felt better. And that was all it took to let the air out of the balloon. He went from enraged to reasonable and graciously accepted the apology. The meeting ended well.”
President Reagan with Nancy Reagan, William Wilson, Betty Wilson, Walter Annenberg, Leonore Annenberg, Earle Jorgensen, Marion Jorgensen, Harriet Deutsch and Armand Deutschat at a private birthday party in honor of President Reagan’s 75th Birthday in the White House Residence. 2/7/86.
Milton Friedman’s book “Free to Choose” did influence me a lot during the days leading up to the Reagan presidency. Take a look at his interview with Phil Donahue below. Did you know that Phil Donahue is married to the daughter of Danny Thomas. Marlo is in charge of raising funds for her father’s hospital in Memphis.
I am going to post portions of this article by Ronald Reagan the next few days.
June 10, 2004, 10:30 a.m.
Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation
Ronald Reagan’s pro-life tract.
Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free
I have often said we need to join in prayer to bring protection to the unborn. Prayer and action are needed to uphold the sanctity of human life. I believe it will not be possible to accomplish our work, the work of saving lives, “without being a soul of prayer.” The famous British Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, prayed with his small group of influential friends, the “Clapham Sect,” for decades to see an end to slavery in the British empire. Wilberforce led that struggle in Parliament, unflaggingly, because he believed in the sanctity of human life. He saw the fulfillment of his impossible dream when Parliament outlawed slavery just before his death.
Let his faith and perseverance be our guide. We will never recognize the true value of our own lives until we affirm the value in the life of others, a value of which Malcolm Muggeridge says:. . . however low it flickers or fiercely burns, it is still a Divine flame which no man dare presume to put out, be his motives ever so humane and enlightened.”
Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free and should therefore be slaves. Likewise, we cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or infanticide. My Administration is dedicated to the preservation of America as a free land, and there is no cause more important for preserving that freedom than affirming the transcendent right to life of all human beings, the right without which no other rights have any meaning.
1980 interview with Milton Friedman by Phil Donahue (part 4). Friedman greatly
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Little known presidential facts:
Several of his descendants and a few historians claim that John Hanson (1721-1783) is actually the forgotten first president of the United States because he was the first president under the Articles of Confederation.j
William McKinley was the first to ride in a self-propelled vehicle—the electric ambulance that took him to the hospital after he had been shot.k
The other day I told a story about flying on Southwest Airlines from Little Rock to Florida by way of St. Louis and I ridiculed them for sending me the wrong way at first. I wanted to make it known that I really do like flying with Southwest and they do a great job. In fact, I flew one time on the same plane with the famous Democratic Senator from Illinois. No it was not the future President Obama but Paul Simon. The lady next to me said, “I know that guy. He is famous.” I told her it was Paul Simon and she thought it was the singer. Then she asked me if it was the writer of TV Shows (Neil Simon), but I finally told her it was the Senator with the bow tie. Senator Simon got a kick out of the story when I relayed it to him while getting off the plane later.
We are a great nation because we have been the most free nation of all time according to Tim Pawlenty in his speech as seen above. The heavy hand of government that President Obama endorses. Also no one should be forced to send their child to a bad school. I have spent lots of time on that with all my articles on Vouchers.
I wanted to include some posts from the article “Excerpts: Tim Pawlenty’s Courage to Stand.” Former Minnesota Governor Discusses Losing the VP Slot to Sarah Palin and How President Obama ‘Broke His Promise’ in His New Book:”
Pawlenty on the intersection of faith and politics:
“People often ask how I reconcile my faith life and my public life and to what extent my Christian faith influences my decision making. For any public leader — or a leader in any arena, for that matter — our upbringing, life experiences, values and beliefs inevitably influence who we are and how we approach the decisions before us. Faith is part of my experience, and it is the cornerstone of my value system. It is part of who I am and how I think.”
Pawlenty taking issue with the federal government’s corporate bailouts and subsidies for public broadcasting:
“The government is like one of those hoarders you see on talk shows — the folks with fourteen dining room tables in their garage, eight boxes of sweaters in their kitchen. The federal government needs to have a yard sale!”
Pawlenty on President Barack Obama’s first two years in office:
“President Obama broke his promise to pay for ‘every dime’ of new government spending. Of course, that’s not the only promise that he has broken. He said that health-care reform would be a transparent, bipartisan effort; instead, the health-care bill was written behind closed doors and passed without any Republican support. He promised to not raise taxes on the middle class, but he broke that pledge. This is not change we can believe in. This is change we still can’t believe.”
I was on a plane flying from St. Louis to Orlando last night and we took off 20 minutes late. Not to worry though because the pilot informed us that he will just do 600 mph and get there 20 minutes early. I was amazed to see so many baseball and tennis courts lit up in Orlando. Of course, the temp in St. Louis was 36 degrees and in Orlando it was 73 degrees.
I am going to post portions of this article by Ronald Reagan the next few days.
June 10, 2004, 10:30 a.m.
Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation
Ronald Reagan’s pro-life tract.
Mother Teresa:”If you don’t want the little child, that unborn child, give him to me.”
It is possible that the Supreme Court itself may overturn its abortion rulings. We need only recall that in Brown v. Board of Education the court reversed its own earlier “separate-but-equal” decision. I believe if the Supreme Court took another look at Roe v. Wade, and considered the real issue between the sanctity of life ethic and the quality of life ethic, it would change its mind once again.
As we continue to work to overturn Roe v. Wade, we must also continue to lay the groundwork for a society in which abortion is not the accepted answer to unwanted pregnancy. Pro-life people have already taken heroic steps, often at great personal sacrifice, to provide for unwed mothers. I recently spoke about a young pregnant woman named Victoria, who said, “In this society we save whales, we save timber wolves and bald eagles and Coke bottles. Yet, everyone wanted me to throw away my baby.” She has been helped by Save-a-Life, a group in Dallas, which provides a way for unwed mothers to preserve the human life within them when they might otherwise be tempted to resort to abortion. I think also of House of His Creation in Catesville, Pennsylvania, where a loving couple has taken in almost 200 young women in the past ten years. They have seen, as a fact of life, that the girls are not better off having abortions than saving their babies. I am also reminded of the remarkable Rossow family of Ellington, Connecticut, who have opened their hearts and their home to nine handicapped adopted and foster children.
The Adolescent Family Life Program, adopted by Congress at the request of Senator Jeremiah Denton, has opened new opportunities for unwed mothers to give their children life. We should not rest until our entire society echoes the tone of John Powell in the dedication of his book, Abortion: The Silent Holocaust, a dedication to every woman carrying an unwanted child: “Please believe that you are not alone. There are many of us that truly love you, who want to stand at your side, and help in any way we can.” And we can echo the always-practical woman of faith, Mother Teresa, when she says, “If you don’t want the little child, that unborn child, give him to me.” We have so many families in America seeking to adopt children that the slogan “every child a wanted child” is now the emptiest of all reasons to tolerate abortion.
Dr. Koop shares his experience when sharing his faith as a surgeon in the hosptial setting and as Surgeon General in Washington. More information at http://www.christianethics.org
1934 Three Little Pigskins . Lucy moments.
My son is crazy about the “Three Stooges.” It is always been our goal to expose our kids to the finer things in life and lots of culture. Last night we saw an episode with Lucy in it from 1934. Notice a picture of Lucy below with the Reagans.
President Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Tom Selleck, Dudley Moore, Lucille Ball at a Tribute to Bob Hope’s 80th birthday at the Kennedy Center. 5/20/83.
1980 interview with Milton Friedman by Phil Donahue (part 3). Friedman greatly influenced me and as a result was a very involved in 1980 campaigning for Reagan.
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Little known presidential facts:
Abraham Lincoln is the only president to receive a patent (# 6469). He was the first president to have a beard, at the request from a little girl named Gracie Bedell. The first child to die in the White House was Abraham Lincoln’s 12-year old son, Willie.i
Abraham Lincoln was the tallest president at 6′ 4” and weighing 180 pounds.i
Milton Friedman’s film series “Free to Choose” Episode on Education part 3. It was Friedman’s voucher plan that was put into practice in Sweden in 1993.
I am sitting in the St. Louis airport waiting to get on my plane to Orlando on a business trip. Can you imagine, I booked a trip with Southwest Airlines because they have always done such a great job and they sent me from Little Rock to Florida by way of St. Louis.
DL: What has Sweden’s experience been with the universal vouchers program?
TI: People really choose! Before the reform, less than 1 percent of all pupils in compulsory education (and around the same amount for students in upper secondary schools) were enrolled in private schools. Today, 10 percent of the pupils in compulsory education and 20 percent of students in upper secondary education choose independent schools. In certain regions of the country, almost half of all pupils and students are enrolled in independent schools.
The independent schools have gone from being an odd phenomenon in certain cities to an obvious and natural part of the Swedish education system. From a business point of view, the independent schools are developing into what can be considered as a real industry, and they are promoting real innovation.
The small independent schools have often challenged the public schools and forced them to improve. But the large chain companies, which have an estimated one-fourth to one-fifth of all independent school students, have proven to be an important force for innovative progress, regarding both educational methods and, important enough, ways to measure, compare, maintain, and improve results.
This also explains why independent schools, on an average, prove to have a smaller per pupil cost than public schools. Since 2004, the inflation-adjusted cost increase per pupil has been smaller for independent schools than that for the whole Swedish education system. And independent schools are not allowed to choose their students. Detailed analysis of cost items shows that independent schools spend a higher share of their revenues on education and teaching materials and are more efficient in managing other costs.
Glenn Beck discusses this topic with Peter Lillback and David Barton. Also discussed is the revisionist history done by the Progressives that has created the current widely held view that Washington was a Deist.
My son Wilson was born in Sept of 1996. Shortly after that I got to go on a trip through New England with my sons Rett (9 yr) and Hunter (8yr) and we toured sites that were associated with our Founding Fathers. One of my favorites was Mt Vernon where George and Martha Washington lived.
It is fitting that today which is George Washington’s birthday that my son Hunter is back in Virginia and may get a chance to visit Mt Vernon again. He is attending a week of training for the military and will be heading back for his second tour in 2012. He served in Iraq in 2008 and will be heading to Afghanistan next.
The first time we went to Mt Vernon he asked me why the sign said that no one could touch George Washington’s bed. I told him that over one million people visit Mt Vernon every year and if everyone touched the bed that it could fall apart. He had really wanted to say that he had touched George Washington’s bed.
In a way, we all want to be closely associated with our Founding Fathers. I was especially impressed with Washington’s Falwell Speech. In the next few days I will post portions of the speech (which really was just a newspaper article) but since it is so long I will put an outline of the speech that is provided by David Barton of Wallbuilders.
OUTLINE
Retirement from office.
He realizes people must be thinking about his replacement, therefore he declines re-election.
He has thought it through, and feels like it is in everyone’s best interest.
He wanted to retire earlier, but foreign affairs and advice from those he respected caused him to “abandon the idea.”
Now that everything is calm, he is persuaded that the people will not disapprove of this “determination to retire.”
He is convinced his age forces retirement, and he welcomes the opportunity.
He offers gratitude for the people’s support.
He offers a blessing “that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence. . .”
Scope of the Address.
His sentiments are for the people’s “frequent review,” he wanted us to read and re-read the Address.
His only motive was as a friend.
He felt no need to recommend a love of liberty – it was already there.
Unity of Government.
Unity is a “main pillar” of “real independence”:
for the support of “tranquility at home”
for “your peace abroad”
for “your safety”
for “your prosperity”
for “that very liberty which you so highly prize.”
Common attributes of unity:
same religion
manners
habits
political principles.
The most commanding motive is to preserve the “union of the whole.”
The North, South, East, and West all depend on each other.
Unity leads to greater strength, resources, and security.
Unity will help “avoid the necessity of . . . overgrown military establishments” and will be the main “prop of your liberty.”
He questions the patriotism of anyone who tries to “weaken its bands.”
It was unity that brought two valuable treaties:
with Great Britain
with Spain.
Government for the whole – via the Constitution – is indispensable; not just alliances between sections.
the adoption of the Constitution was an improvement on the former “essay.”
respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, and acquiescence in its measures are fundamental maxims of true liberty.
the people’s right to alter constitutions is the basis of our political system.
George Washington the first President of the United States was a very enigmatic person. There are many fascinating anecdotes about the great man
The story of how George Washington, cut down a cherry tree with his new axe, is well known. The incident never happened. It was a story concocted by Washington’s biographer, Parson Mason Weems, years after his death.
President Reagan and Bob Hope laughing with George Shultz at the Kennedy Center Honors. Washington, DC 12/8/85.
Reagan’s Surgeon General C. Everett Koop talks about “baby doe.” Discussing film series “Whatever happened to the human race?”
You will notice in this above clip by C. Everett Koop that Ronald Reagan, Koop and Malcolm Muggeridge all wrote a book together called”Abortion and the Conscience of a Nation, (1983).” It sold millions of copies and I have been quoting from the first chapter of that book in these posts from the Human Life Review.
I got to see Bob Hope get a performance in Memphis with my grandfather (Everette Hatcher Sr., 1903-1988) and we had a great time. You will notice Bob Hope above in the picture above.
I am going to post portions of this article by Ronald Reagan the next few days.
June 10, 2004, 10:30 a.m.
Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation
Ronald Reagan’s pro-life tract.
EDITOR’S NOTE: While president, Ronald Reagan penned this article for The Human Life Review, unsolicited. It ran in the Review‘s Spring 1983, issue and is reprinted here with permission.
Malcolm Muggeridge: “Either life is always and in all circumstances sacred, or intrinsically of no account.”
I know that when the true issue of infanticide is placed before the American people, with all the facts openly aired, we will have no trouble deciding that a mentally or physically handicapped baby has the same intrinsic worth and right to life as the rest of us. As the New Jersey Supreme Court said two decades ago, in a decision upholding the sanctity of human life, “a child need not be perfect to have a worthwhile life.”
Whether we are talking about pain suffered by unborn children, or about late-term abortions, or about infanticide, we inevitably focus on the humanity of the unborn child. Each of these issues is a potential rallying point for the sanctity of life ethic. Once we as a nation rally around any one of these issues to affirm the sanctity of life, we will see the importance of affirming this principle across the board.
Malcolm Muggeridge, the English writer, goes right to the heart of the matter: “Either life is always and in all circumstances sacred, or intrinsically of no account; it is inconceivable that it should be in some cases the one, and in some the other.” The sanctity of innocent human life is a principle that Congress should proclaim at every opportunity.
1980 interview with Milton Friedman by Phil Donahue (part 2). Friedman greatly influenced me and as a result was a very involved in 1980 campaigning for Reagan.
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Little known presidential details:
Jimmy Carter is the only president to have been commander of both a nuclear submarine and a peanut farm.b
William McKinley, Grover Cleveland, and James Madison are on the $500, $1000, and $5000 bill, respectively. The bills are still used as legal tender but are no longer being printed.b
Milton Friedman’s film series “Free to Choose” Episode on Education part 2. It was Friedman’s voucher plan that was put into practice in Sweden in 1993. See Friedman below next to George Shultz who was next to Reagan.
(R Row, from front to rear) Milton Friedman, George Shultz, Pres. Ronald Reagan, Arthur Burns, William Simon and Walter Wriston & unknown at a meeting of White House economic advisers.
The key to straightening out our schools is competition. Do you think that the Little Rock School System would rise to the occasion if they had to? Now they have a captive audience that can not afford to go elsewhere.
TI: On a general level, the range of choices is very wide. There are all kinds of independent schools. In 215 of Sweden’s total 290 cities and municipalities, there are one or more independent schools operating. Compulsory schools are for pupils 7–16 years old, are mandatory by law, and have uniform content with one national curriculum for all schools, regardless if they are public or independent. Upper secondary schools are for students ranging from16–19 years of age. Upper secondary students choose between different educational programs depending on their goals (such as preparation for university studies or education for a profession). Upper secondary schools were formally voluntary, but almost all students attend now, and the curricula differ between programs. However, for every program the curriculum is national and the same for public and independent schools. Around 14 percent of all compulsory schools and 44 percent of all upper secondary schools are independent. And there is a steady increase every year. In 1992, less than 1 percent of schools in Sweden were private. Today one out of five Swedish compulsory or upper secondary schools today is independent.
Before the voucher reform, the few private schools existing merely differed from public schools regarding ownership. Today, almost half of the independent schools differ more or less radically from public schools regarding pedagogical concept and methods to fulfill the curriculum. Around 10 percent of the independent schools are religious/confessional. More than six out of 10 independent schools are run as for-profit limited companies, a form for school operation that has become more common throughout the years. And there are small, local schools—founded by teachers and headmasters and run as only one unit—alongside larger chain school companies that are represented all over the country. One school corporation is even listed on the Stockholm Exchange Market.
President Reagan and Nancy Reagan attending “All Star Tribute to Dutch Reagan” at NBC Studios(from left to right sitting) Colleen Reagan, Neil Reagan, Maureen Reagan, President, Nancy Reagan, Dennis Revell. (From left to right standing) Emmanuel Lewis, Charlton Heston, Ben Vereen, Monty Hall, Frank Sinatra, Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, Eydie Gorme, Vin Scully, Steve Lawrence, last 2 unidentified. Burbank, California 12/1/85.
Above you will see the picture of Charlton Heston. My wife actually got her picture taken with Heston in 1992 when he came in to try to jump start Mike Huckabee’s effort to beat Senator Dale Bumpers.
Dr. Koop shares his journey to becoming Surgeon General in Part 1 of this interview at Wheaton College, IL. http://www.christianethics.org
Dr. C. Everett Koop was a big influence on me because of his involvement in the film series “Whatever happened to the human race?” It probably really motivated me to campaign for Ronald Reagan in 1980.
I am going to post portions of this article by Ronald Reagan the next few days.
June 10, 2004, 10:30 a.m.
Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation
Ronald Reagan’s pro-life tract.
Reagan: “This Administration has a Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, who has done perhaps more than any other American for handicapped children…”
We must all educate ourselves to the reality of the horrors taking place. Doctors today know that unborn children can feel a touch within the womb and that they respond to pain. But how many Americans are aware that abortion techniques are allowed today, in all 50 states, that burn the skin of a baby with a salt solution, in an agonizing death that can last for hours?
Another example: two years ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a Sunday special supplement on “The Dreaded Complication.” The “dreaded complication” referred to in the article — the complication feared by doctors who perform abortions — is the survival of the child despite all the painful attacks during the abortion procedure. Some unborn children do survive the late-term abortions the Supreme Court has made legal. Is there any question that these victims of abortion deserve our attention and protection? Is there any question that those who don’t survive were living human beings before they were killed?
Late-term abortions, especially when the baby survives, but is then killed by starvation, neglect, or suffocation, show once again the link between abortion and infanticide. The time to stop both is now. As my Administration acts to stop infanticide, we will be fully aware of the real issue that underlies the death of babies before and soon after birth.
Our society has, fortunately, become sensitive to the rights and special needs of the handicapped, but I am shocked that physical or mental handicaps of newborns are still used to justify their extinction. This Administration has a Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, who has done perhaps more than any other American for handicapped children, by pioneering surgical techniques to help them, by speaking out on the value of their lives, and by working with them in the context of loving families. You will not find his former patients advocating the so-called “quality-of-life” ethic.
1980 interview with Milton Friedman by Phil Donahue (part 1).
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Little known presidential facts:
Every so often, Calvin Coolidge would press all the buttons on the President’s desk and hide and watch his staff run in. He would then pop out from behind the door and say that he was just seeing if everyone was working.b
The first president to be born outside the original 13 States was Lincoln.k
