Education is responsibility of all

Rep. Rick Jore seems like a nice enough guy. We've even supported him from time to time in some of his crusades to bring change to the way government is run.

But this time he has gone too far.

In an effort to decrease the power of government over citizens, Jore has proposed in House Bill 404 to do away with compulsory education in Montana.

This in unfortunate, especially since Jore - a Constitution Party member - was appointed by the Republican majority in the House to chair the Education Committee. After reading his bill, it is hard to see how he can in good conscience serve on the committee at all, let alone chair it.

The preamble to the bill declares:

"Whereas, children are properly the wards of parents and guardians, not of the state, and compulsory attendance laws presuppose just the opposite; and

"Whereas, the Legislature recognizes that responsibility, both legally and before God, for the education of children lies with parents and guardians, not with the state; therefore the parents and guardians, not the state, must be able to exercise authority over the education of their children; and

"Whereas … mere attendance at a school does not constitute an education …; thus, compulsory attendance satisfies no compelling interest of the state."

This kind of abrogation of responsibility by the Legislature would represent also an abrogration of responsibility by society itself to its young people, and leave them, like Huck Finn at the mercy of whatever unhappy circumstances into which they had been born.

That, we think, "both legally and before God," would represent a huge step backward, as if Cain's defense - "Am I my brother's keeper?" - had some legitimacy in excusing us from exercising proper care and concern for our fellow citizens, especially those younger ones who depend on us for their well-being.

Jore complains that "parents are the final authority when it comes to the education of their children," and in a sense he is right, because parents are indeed entrusted to bring to fruition the latent talents within each child, but this does not mean society can trust all parents to do what is right for all children.

The state of Montana already concedes to parents the right to home-school their children, rather than entrust education to the government. That is as it should be. But to deny that children have a right to education, to leave education at the sole discretion of those parents who may not have the best interests of their children at heart, is foolish and reprehensible.

Society does have a compelling interest in an educated population, especially a society such as ours that depends on its citizenry for competent governance. In a world of increasing challenges and complexity, it behooves all of us to take an interest in the next generation.

Leaving education up to chance is playing dice with our future.