Education + Propaganda = Tyranny

The Marxist implication is that people who labor don't have to think

The Socialist Party USA would likely be proud of the school administration.  Under the general category of "Youth," the Party believes in these related actions: "We call for the abolition of parent consent and notification laws for reproductive health services, including abortion"; and, "We call for the right to comprehensive sex education in school that includes birth control methods, STD protection, and information about being LGBTQ." Under their Socialist Program for Education, the party believes that "providing a truly rounded education for working class youth, in fact for anybody, is not possible under capitalism."  The party cites the authority of Karl Marx:

"In the 19^th century, Karl Marx argued for ‘polytechnical education', linking schooling with the real world of production. He believed this could give real relevance to education and help overcome the division between those who ‘labored' and those who ‘thought'. This idea has nothing in common with the abomination of child labor. Rather, the purpose of education as Marx saw it was that ‘the partially developed individual, who is merely the bearer of one specialized social function, must be replaced by the totally developed individual.' We agree."

The Marxist implication is that people who labor don't have to think.  

Jacques Ellul's Accomplishments

If the man pictured above was still living, he'd align himself with Ms. Geraghty and against her ideological opponents.  Jacques Ellul died at age 82 in 1994.  Below is some of what he accomplished. 

"Ellul was a longtime Professor of History and the Sociology of Institutions on the Faculty of Law and Economic Sciences at the University of Bordeaux. A prolific writer, he authored more than 60 books and more than 600 articles over his lifetime, many of which discussed propaganda, the impact of technology on society, and the interaction between religion and politics."  (Source)

One of his most important books is entitled Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. To Ellul's book goes the credit for the thesis of this essay.  It falls within the introduction and his last words before the Appendix.   These words, written by an editor, are in the book's Introduction (p. vi):

"A related point, central in Ellul's thesis, is that modern propaganda cannot work without ‘education'; he reverses the widespread notion that education is the best prophylactic against propaganda.  On the contrary, he says, education, or what usually goes by the word in the modern world, is the absolute prerequisite for propaganda.  In fact, education is largely identical with the Ellul calls ‘pre-propaganda' – the conditioning of minds with vast amounts of incoherent information, already dispensed for ulterior purpose and posing as ‘facts' and as ‘education'."  (Bolding added)

The Jackson Memorial Middle School principal, district officials, and the School Board are the manipulators of truth and freedom

Ellul's last words before the book's Appendix (p. 257) are his warning to the reader:

"It is merely convenient to realize that the side of freedom and truth for man has not yet lost, but that it may well lose – and that in this game, propaganda is undoubtedly the most formidable power, acting in only one direction (toward the destruction of truth and freedom), no matter what the good intention or the good will may be of those who manipulate it."  

The Jackson Memorial Middle School principal, district officials, and the School Board, whatever their intentions, are the manipulators of truth and freedom. And the children are the primary victims.