Logically-minded people all over the UK are celebrating a rare (for the Brits) victory. The government has largely decided that schools there will teach evolutionary theory, and that creationist new-agery will not. Further, any school that does promote creationist thinking will lose funding.

This is a great idea, but not for the reason you might think. You are correct, long-time readers, in knowing the Czar is a big supporter of evolution, given the onslaught of inarguable facts from the macro to the micro. He also believes, along with many others, that a strict, literal interpretation of the Bible is actually an affront to God. And there is no irony in that—strictly literal interpretation is among the most inept, lazy Bible study there is.

That is for another day. Today, the Czar wants to look at why he supports this notion about pulling funding for schools that teach Creationism. The Czar recommends that the United States take a strong similar position, state by state. If you want your kids to learn religion, send them to a school that teaches religion, not a public school.

In fact, if you want your kids to learn math, send them to a school that teaches math. If you want them to learn reading and literature, send them to a school that teaches those.

Furthermore, let us take this to the extreme: let us slowly eliminate public schools altogether. Virtually all charter and private schools provide sound learning, tailored to the needs of the student. What you lose with charter and private schools, of course, is assemblies praising Democratic leaders, political correctness, multicultural sensitivity training, union squabbling, and endless state and federal dickering with the curriculum. Plus, you can play any sport you want; you do not require equal interest among girls and boys.

Here in our little sleepy town of Muscovy, the local school district is doing very well in terms of its educational content. The union, of course, is quite weak here. The kids (and the Czar has met most of them) are generally great kids who love to learn and are quite adept. The school district is small but well-funded (yet not egregiously so). The schools are run very much along the lines of a charter school.

A dozen miles east is the Chicago Public School system, which has been losing ground to charter schools. CPS, in turn, opened a few experimental charter schools of their own—although how they got this past Chicago’s powerhouse teacher’s union is a bit of a mystery. You guessed it: even the CPS-run experimental charter schools are out-performing the non-charter schools for a fraction of the price. Uh-oh.

Look, if you believe that dinosaurs did not exist and that whales did not once walk on land, okay. And if you really think your kids ought to be similarly ill-equipped to solve problems, well, let us pretend that is all right, too. But rather than force the public schools to teach this, get your kids in a school that does teach it. You might find their grades go up in other areas, too.

Although, they probably won’t do too well in science.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.