Susan Berry, Ph.D. on February 1, 2024 - CatholicVote
A prominent Christian movement that is encouraging American families to leave the government-run public education system is preparing for a major event at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
On March 21, Public School Exit (PSE) will host its lunchtime education event moderated by actress, filmmaker, and education freedom advocate Sam Sorbo, a press statement announced last week.
“We’re finalizing details right now about exactly who will be in attendance, but we’re hoping for big things,” PSE Executive Director Alex Newman told CatholicVote:
And we’ve got a sponsor from within Mar-a-Lago who is hosting us, and we think it’s going to be, first of all, a good opportunity to make connections between people who think like us and the future administration.
Newman said PSE is also hoping the event will serve as a fundraiser to fuel the organization’s mission, which, as he describes, is “to try to free as many children as possible from the clutches of this government so-called education system.”
Launched in 2019 amid COVID school shutdowns, PSE’s mantra is now “More than an organization; we are a movement.”
With its biblical worldview, PSE is a “ministry” that is taking a different path from other groups that are still attempting to “take back” public schools, Newman explained:
As a ministry, we the leaders and advisors believe that trying to reform the public schools is completely futile. In fact, it’s counterproductive because you’re wasting energy and resources and talent that could otherwise go into the important battle on something that we’ve been working on for 60 years and has absolutely no benefits at all.
Newman, the author of the newly-released book “Indoctrinating Our Children to Death,” said that while he respects groups trying to replace leftwing school board members and exposing the indoctrination in public schools, PSE asserts “this is not a system that can or should be reformed.”
“It’s actually doing what it was designed to do,” he argued, noting that his book highlights the history of government-run schools and the system’s activist intentions:
The people who created the system always had, as an objective, undermining Christianity, fundamentally transforming our society, and removing parents from the picture, so their children could be turned into change agents. And that’s indisputable. The record is crystal clear. And you can prove it using primary source documents.
“So, when somebody talks about reforming the public school system – for me – that’s like talking about reforming your cancer,” he said:
Why would you want to talk about reforming your cancer? You want to get rid of the cancer, it’s going to kill you if you don’t get rid of it. And, so, with all due respect to our friends, we do hope that they’ll eventually join us in what we think is the much more useful, productive, and important endeavor of getting children out of the system, and rethinking the whole system from scratch.
Newman explained to CatholicVote that PSE’s belief, as a ministry, is that the government should not be involved in education.
“This is primarily the responsibility for parents,” he said:
And, to some extent, maybe there’s a supplemental role there for the Church. But the idea that government ought to be educating children is a relatively new one. It has proven to be incredibly destructive. And there should be no place for that in a free society.
The cost to attend PSE’s fundraiser event at Mar-a Lago is $350 per ticket or $2,800 to sponsor a table of eight people. Donations are also accepted from those who do not attend.
PSE’s board is chaired by Chaplain and Lt. Col. USAR Ret. E. Ray Moore, who has served in pastoral ministry for over 40 years.
CEO Dran Reese, founder and president of The Salt & Light Council™ and initiatives, The Content of Character Series™, Judeo-Christian Caucus™, and Biblical Voter™, said in a press statement that PSE’s primary concern is that public schools “are destroying American children physically, academically, morally and spiritually.”
“Our luncheon will highlight three core takeaways for those passionate about re-establishing excellence in American education: setting up chapters of PSE in every state, providing educational scholarships, and funding teacher training to meet demand,” Reese said.
“Students at institutional schools are regularly confronted by physical violence, drugs, and alcohol and psychological abuse, but we have solutions to stop that from going on unchecked,” she added.
Although Newman acknowledges America is a long way from the goal of ending government involvement in education, he and PSE are hoping to lead the first steps in that incremental process.
In addition to Sorbo, PSE’s other advisors include podcast host and nationally known education analyst on the federal takeover of education Dr. Duke Pesta; Kimberly Fletcher, president and foundress of Moms for America; Rebecca Friedrichs, foundress of For Kids & Country; and numerous Christian pastors and education leaders.
“Our vision is for eventually a world in which the government doesn’t educate children, where parents are responsible for that,” Newman told CatholicVote:
They can delegate that authority, if they want, to a Christian school or a pagan school, if that’s what the parents want to do – it’s their prerogative. But we’ve got to get the government out. There’s no sense in reforming a system that is producing poisoned fruit, because it came from a poisoned seed. You can’t fix that.