A sold out crowd filled The Grand America’s Grand Ballroom in Salt Lake City for the Independence Through Education Conference, which featured speakers Michelle Malkin, Kyle Olson and more. The first speaker and host of the event was Pat Gray. While many fans know Pat as the co-host of the radio show and a longtime friend of Glenn Beck, Pat has been active in education and he spoke of having homeschooled his kids for twenty-three years and recently opening up a school in Texas.
To kick things off, Pat recapped his history in radio and with Glenn. They worked together in Baltimore and became close friends, and stayed together until Pat went to Houston for a new job. Glenn was always influential
“It was about a cause, it was about something much bigger than that,” Pat said. “We knew we had something to do together.”
For Pat, a big part of that cause is education of the next generation of Americans.
“What qualifies me to host an education conference? The same thing that qualifies you to be here at an education conference. We are all concerned husbands, mothers, and wives who love our children,” Pat said, “Who is better qualified to take an active role in their education that we are?”
Pat and his wife Jackie have homeschooled our children for twenty-three years. Their oldest son was diagnosed ADHD and the school insisted he be placed on Ritalin, which they did despite their resistance. And after watching him crash on the Ritalin every day, they decided to take him off and he was subsequently not allowed in the classroom. Pat and Jackie decided to take him out of school, and they’ve been homeschooling ever since.
Pat said they wanted to make God a part of their children’s education, and he and the crowd all agreed that ever since God was taken out of public school the education system has gotten far, far worse. He cited Common Core and out of control nonsense, such as kids being taken out of class for making guns with their fingers, as just a few examples of how common sense has left schools.
He also pointed out that schools are a hotbed of indoctrination, citing the LA school system planning to train kids to promote Obamacare to their friends and family members. He mentioned a friend whose 8-year-old kid came home and was counting their shoes as part of an exercise to guilt trip the
“I’m a believer in charity, I’m not a believer in teaching my kids about Marxism and redistribution of wealth,” Pat said.
So what can concerned parents do? “I don’t know” Pat said.
“I don’t know what you should be doing,” Pat said. “Do what my wife continues to say: pray on it. Listen for the answer, counsel with your spouse. Think about what your skills are. And seriously think about what the answer is."
So what have Pat and his wife Jackie done? They recently decided to open up a small K-12 school with about forty kids where the parents were actively involved in the education of their children. Many of the teachers are parents themselves.
“It’s not fun, it’s not glamorous and it’s certainly not profitable,” Pat said. “But it was absolutely the right thing to do.”
Pat encouraged others to find ways to take action, whether it be to become active in the PTA to make sure your kid’s education reflects your values, or stand up against Common Core and similar program, or take them out of the public school system to find an alternative like homeschooling.
He said that whatever parents decide to do, they should figure it out soon and take action.
“Do it soon, because our children’s future is at stake and we have a nation to save,” Pat said.
