Paul Dorr is a little-known figure who has led numerous successful campaigns against bond issues in rural America over the past 25 years. He opposes public education. He believes that all education should be centered in religion and the church. Dorr is also active in opposing abortion and supporting gun rights. He burns books that he does not approve of.
A viral Facebook video offers some clues. It shows Paul Dorr, father of Aaron, Ben and Chris Dorr, burning books he checked out from a local library.
It turns out the elder Dorr educated his 11 children at home, and took them along to protest outside abortion clinics as part of Operation Rescue.
Like his sons, Paul Dorr is active in politics. He’s developed a reputation as a fierce opponent of public schooling and works as a hired gun to help defeat school bond referendums across the Midwest.
But as Paul Dorr says, his reason for attacking public schools is “almost always not my client’s reason.” His clients may simply want to keep property taxes low.
But Paul Dorr’s plan is to eliminate public education entirely – to see the public education system “one day be gone, and restore education back into the hands of families, the parents and the Christians.”
This article describes his efforts to defeat a school bond issue in Worthington, Minnesota, intended to build a new high school.
Paul Dorr is:
…a vehement opponent of public schools and supporter of religious-centric home-schooling who’s led campaigns that have helped defeat scores of bond issues in nine states — mostly in the upper Midwest — for the past 25 years. “Public education is a sin against God,” he has said.
In the election season three years ago, Dorr was working as the communications consultant for a group called the Worthington Citizens For Progress Committee. It had created the flier.
Dorr would eventually sharpen the anti-school-bond group tactics with a Facebook page, website, videos and memes to target local businesses, politicians and media.
The material accused the school district of exaggerating the harm if the bond didn’t pass. It claimed the school board was mismanaging money and was incompetent, even deaf. The committee encouraged people not to eat at restaurants where school bond information was displayed and wrote critically about business leaders who supported the new school.
Dorr, who doesn’t live in Worthington — or in Minnesota, for that matter — was deploying tools of attack that seemed more fitting for political combat on a national stage, not a school bond vote in the American countryside. People were stunned.
Two months after the first signs of Dorr at King Turkey Day, the district lost its referendum vote — the first of four failed attempts between the fall of 2016 and the winter of 2019 to raise taxes for a new school.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/schools-arent-superspreaders/616669/
A rube Savonarola. Just what the world needs.
There’s another element to opposition in Worthington – Race and Racism. Not sure why this APM report from 2019 didn’t mention it, but about 50% of the students in Worthing, Mn are Latinx 2/3 of the students are students of color.
As the story notes, this is a century of turkey processing, which has attracted many POCI who will take jobs others don’t want.
This is a classic example of why I think states should have a larger role in helping build public school/community center buildings. For more than 30 years, the Center for School CHange has promoted the idea of schools and other organizations sharing space (sometimes called “community schools”)
This would be perfect for Worthington (and many other communities). Meanwhile, sadly, this is another example of someone using racism to defeat a worthy cause – in this case – a new school in Worthington.
If this man wants to live like the Amish, then maybe he should join their community? I’m sure that the sect would be happy to have a strong grown man and his sons come into the fold SMH!!. The problem is that Dorr is not peaceful AND he’s a hypocrite. Dorr (and others like him) are the worst of the worst. They want all the perks of living in a social society except for the parts that they don’t like their taxes to support. Let him go to Barnes & Noble and burn the books that he himself purchases instead of raiding the public and tax funded library system to burn books . If he wants to homeschool/un-school his children he has the right, except that most parents want their children to go to the local public school. People like Dorr don’t love Jesus (because Jesus was a Socialist), they don’t act in a Jesus like manner and they aren’t Christians at all. Time to call them out!
well said: “Dorr (and others like him) are the worst of the worst. They want all the perks of living in a social society except for the parts that they don’t like their taxes to support. “
These right wing libertarian types are a threat to the common good. In their perspective we should return to the days of a “little house on the prairie.” The world in those days was a whole lot less complicated than it is today. We need to prepare students to function in tomorrow’s world. We need to prepare all our young people to be informed, responsible citizens.
But these people don’t want “little house on the prairie” when it comes to buying a new house, or driving on roads, or going on vacation or shopping at Neiman Marcus. They want to pick and choose what “little house on the prairie’ aspects they want. Libertarians that use religion in their quest…..Hypocrites!!!
I have a friend in Miami who says that parents are pulling their kids out of public schools because private schools, which are expensive, have smaller class sizes. I imagine this same thing is happening all over the country. Parents who are wealthy can do this but middle class and poor have to send their children to underfunded public schools who are having to meet a crisis for which they are not prepared. No help is coming from the federal government.
I don’t know how to get a link for this article from NPR:
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Enrollment Is Dropping In Public Schools Around the Country
October 9, 20206:00 AM ET
Comprehensive national data aren’t available yet, but reporting by NPR and our member stations, along with media reports from around the country, shows enrollment declines in dozens of school districts across 20 states. Large and small, rich and poor, urban and rural — in most of these districts the decline is a departure from recent trends. Over the past 15 years, data from the U.S. Education Department show that small and steady annual increases in public school enrollment have been the rule.
Six months after schools around the country shut their doors amid coronavirus lockdowns, these fall enrollment declines come as schools have been scrambling to improve remote learning offerings, and to adopt safety procedures to allow buildings to open for in-person classes, sometimes just a few days a week. In many parts of the country the start of the year has been marked by multiple changes in plans, widespread confusion among teachers and families, deep concerns about safety, and worries about unequal access to technology…
In many places, the enrollment drops are especially noticeable in kindergarten and pre-K. For our reporting, we reached out to more than 100 districts and heard back from more than 60. In our sample, the average kindergarten enrollment drop was 16%.
Many education experts are skeptical about the virtues of remote learning for very young children, and lots of parents seem to feel the same way….
The potential loss is a hardship for school districts that already are facing the costs of schooling during a pandemic — from masks and hand sanitizer to hiring additional teachers to run both in-person and virtual programs. On top of that, the coronavirus-induced recession has already driven education budget cuts across the country…
It’s happening bigtime in my district.
Someday the pandemic will be over.
People will return to public schools when it is safe.
Diane: How sad that this country has unlimited amounts of money for the military and security. [in my opinion we kill and destroy in too many countries and now everyone can be monitored as to where they go and who they see…NOT good.]
BUT there is never money for public education. It is the most important thing so that children will grow up to be responsible, educated citizens.
The U.S. isn’t taking care of its people.
The Social Progress Index says the U.S. has dropped from 19th to 28th in the world.
The newest Social Progress Index finds that out of 163 countries assessed worldwide, the United States, Brazil and Hungary are the only ones in which people are worse off than when the index began in 2011. And the declines in Brazil and Hungary were smaller than America’s.
Interesting info., thanks Carol
The Archdiocese schools are fully open in my area and they are now full with public school kids. The public schools were to be fully online until January. MD is now trying to push districts to start hybrid plans in November with a bribe from the Governor. Enrollment #’s for funding are due in by the end of Sept – mid October….this is a problem for public schools. When the public system reopens, they will be underfunded.
The Catholic schools seem to be dealing with this much better then the publics in my area, too. I’m looking at some Catholic schools for high school next year.
Dealing with a pandemic is not easy, especially when there is no leadership to encourage appropriate behavior.
Flerp…..we have Archdiocese schools and we have Independent Faith Based schools (mostly Catholic and mostly HS). The Archdiocese schools are more for indoctrination into the religion, but they opened full time so lots of non Catholic parents seized upon the opportunity. The Independent schools refer to themselves as “Catholic with a small c” and opened hybrid but are phasing in the full time based on data and outbreak. Covid 19 is a boon for Archdiocese schools right now, but they will likely regret their decision to accept all these students for many reasons. The Independent schools always run at 100%-105% no matter because they don’t stress the religious aspect as much as they do the academics and “whole child” learning experience . Good luck with your search. I don’t know if your area has this type of private school set up? It has been a wonderful experience for my son (we are non religious Christian/Jewish). It’s been worth every penny we pay.
The ones we’re looking at aren’t too hardcore on the religious aspect. I’m Catholic but “lapsed” beyond hope. My kids are irreligious and in my view embarrassingly ignorant of Catholicism/Christianity. They probably know more about every other major religion than Christianity.
Some years ago, the County School Board finally arrived at the decision that they should have made years before, that we needed a new high school. The county commissioners agreed, but did not know how to pay for it and were conflicted as to the best solution. They punted to the electorate and placed a wheel tax on the ballot. It was defeated, and even the people in our own part of the county who needed the school voted against it.
The opposition to the wheel tax came from an understandable piece of logic: all the other parts of the county had built their schools without a wheel tax, so we should not have to pay more taxes for our school. Hard to argue, when the distribution of tax revenue had been flowing out of our end of the county for three decades.
This mentality has been exploited by conservatives to drive wedges between the people of communities. Hot button issues can sway those who care deeply for their neighbors, but fear distant forces which seem to be upsetting their view of their world. We must fight this kind of intrusion into local politics by calling out the motives of those who bring money into a local race for a wider purpose of dividing the community.
This article about the Dorr family article is a superb feat of investigative journalism.
I looked at the website and encourage others to do so as well. At the website, the side-bar has a list of topics of interest to this business practice. A business based on the Bible as a marketing tool and justification for destroying government, especially local governments. Notice also the title of the website.
https://www.rollbacklocalgov.com
🤔Paul Dorr’s plan is to eliminate public education entirely – to see the public education system “one day be gone, and restore education back into the hands of families, the parents and the Christians.”🤢
I wonder if Dorr thinks other religions also count; that if you are Jewish or Muslim or Buddist or Hindu, et al, those families should also be able to send their children to their religious schools.
Looks like Pau Dorr is a traitor and a terrorist because it is apparent he does not approve of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Amendment 1: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Dorr’s brand of Christianity is not the only religion in the United States, and there are other religions that are no Christians, too.
I shudder at the thought that one day the Dorr’s of the U.S. will succeed and achieve all their Macheviallian-dystopian goals and turn the country into a theo-kleptocracy with a perpetual inquisition.
The right wing (Josh Hawley) is demanding members of Congress state they won’t ask People of Praise cultist, Amy Barrett, questions about religion. Right wing, Federalist Society judge, Naomi Rao, has contrived extensive arguments about “religious tests” which Republican Mike Lee notes at his site. It’s a religious right campaign that would offend Jefferson and should offend all Americans who believe in separation of church and state.
I am very uncomfortable with asking anyone going for a judgeship about their religious beliefs. I despise Mike Lee, but agree with him on this one. He and I are both Mormon (although I vehemently disagree with him on most things), and Mormons have been subjected to this sort of thing A lot. Not that I think that Barrett is a good choice at all. But go after her rulings, not her religion.
“Handmaiden” Barrett is a Manchurian candidate who should be asked about the people who paved her way to be a SCOTUS justice, including her clerkship with Scalia. Qualified candidates for SCOTUS have a body of rulings which she doesn’t due the rush to get her into candidacy during a GOP presidency.
An unwillingness to talk about the religion that Jefferson warned would have bad influence, has led to theocracy’ success in the turning back the clock on women’s and black people’s rights.
State rankings of women’s inequality rank Utah and Idaho at the top. The reasons for the ranking should be discussed.
Of the 3 groups, black people, women and gay people, the only group that currently has momentum to get greater rights is the gay cohort. It is also the only, of the three, that has among the group, white males, like Peter Theil.
Thank you TOW, for not trolling me, calling me anti-LDS and, for not describing me as ignorant.
Years ago, when I was living in Illinois I received a news magazine every month from Boise Junior College.
In one article, it stated that Meridian [a town next to Boise] had passed a ruling that gay children could not attend school there.
I DuckDuckGo’d to see what has happened since. There is no link to this article. Things have improved. I lived on a farm in Meridian and went to Meridian grade school from 1-3 grades. [Idaho had no kindergarten at that time.] It figures that James Dobson would be against giving gay students any rights.
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Extremist Group Says Meridian School Board “Duped” into Dropping Consent Requirement for Clubs
NOVEMBER 1, 2011 BY JAMESTIDMARSH
A group founded by hate group leader Don Wildmon, James Dobson and others is going after the Meridian School District for failing to require a parents signature in order to join a school clubs….
The Statesman reports the group claims that in Meridian’s case, “the proposal was cut after pressure from Lambda Legal and the Idaho Safe Schools Coalition.”
Parents, students and others testified to the school board earlier this fall that requiring parental consent for a Gay Straight Alliance club is not only unfair, but it would also cause undue hardship on LGBTQIA students.
Meridian School District spokesman Eric Exline tells the newspaper that the consent clause was dropped because the vast majority of clubs in the district do not require parental consent.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that violence against LGBTQIA students decreases in schools that have Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. The clubs not only give its members a safe space to discuss issues such as bullying, it also helps students know that they aren’t alone.
The Meridian School Board approved its new policy last week paving the way for the organization of not only Gay-Straight Alliance clubs but other student clubs in the district as well…
Anecdotal evidence suggests that violence against LGBTQIA students decreases in schools that have Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. The clubs not only give its members a safe space to discuss issues such as bullying, it also helps students know that they aren’t alone.
The Meridian School Board approved its new policy last week paving the way for the organization of not only Gay-Straight Alliance clubs but other student clubs in the district as well.
Barrett is endorsed by Ted Cruz aka “Lucifer himself”.
Former GOP Speaker of the House, John Boehner, gave that title to Cruz.
A current GOP politician in Congress said he liked Cruz better than anyone else in the Senate liked him. He followed up by saying, “And, I hate him”.
TOW
William Barr and Leonard Leo have received Catholic awards for what they have done against American secularism to advance their faith.
Rev. Jenkins’ Notre Dame makes Falwell’s Liberty University look good.
CNN reported that a Notre Dame spokesman claims a YouTube video of Amy Barrett’s speech on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is now lost.
Yes….lost……but I’m sure there is a copy somewhere. And many students are calling for Jenkins to step down since he violated the Covid rules that the school put into place. If any students were expelled due to breaking the rules, they now have the legal right to sue Notre Dame for a refund.
The most recent episode of the’No Compromise’ podcast revealed that some of the elders of the Dorr family have caught COVID 19 with very serious symptoms. Members of the family had been involved with anti-mask activism. This pandemic may reveal weaknesses in libertarian thinking.