Slate writer: 'Bad' people send kids to private schools

Gutfeld: Witness once again the spirit of leafy campus leftism

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," August 30, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: All right. According to a writer at the liberal blog, Slate, you are a bad person if you send your children to private school. I know it's surprising to hear a lib labeled you bad for not agreeing with them. But, hear her out. Allison Benedikt says you must put them in public education for then our shared suffering will force improvement in the schools.

It could take generations, she says, and for awhile, your kids are going to suffer, but it is worth it for the common good. And what about parents that send them to private schools for religious reasons, or because their kids have behavioral issues? Benedikt says it's not a compelling reason. And so, we witness once again the spirit of the lefty campus -- preach tolerance, but only for their ideas.

What you left out? Compliance. What if you don't want to do what she says? The phrase "common good" has allowed for some really awful people to make good people do things against their world. It's called bash-ism. Once government takes over, bad becomes acceptable and it never gets better until you're dead. Without the engine of competition, all roads to hell of paved with clones for the common good.

But I can forgive the writer, she claims she had a terrible public education. So, her ridiculous article is gold plated proof of the results of a bad public school. I wonder how many enrolled their kids in private after reading it.

Hey, Juan, what do you make -- is the point valid, though? There's something to be said. She's saying like if everybody had to go to public school, wasn't able to opt out to private, then public schools would be forced to improve.

Does that make any sense? I mean, there's some --

JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Some sense to me. The argument could be made well, you know what, if everybody is in there, upper class parents, people with more education, more money, are going to demand better results, more political power, so you're going to get better schools.

But, hey, you know what, that doesn't mean your kids get good results right now. My kid is going to be in school for 12 years. And you better believe that I want the best for my child right now. I'm not looking long term.

GUTFELD: Yes.

KATIE PAVLICH, GUEST CO-HOST: But it's not just rich parents that demand better of the schools, it's actually very poor parents in poor areas that are locked into these schools and their kids don't have the choice to go to a better school, a school of their choice. I don't think putting everyone in the same public school system going to improve, because you're not treating the problem. The problem is teachers' unions. The problem is not we're not basing teacher's pay or tenure on performance, sort of basing it whether they show up or not. So, we don't treat that problem.

If there's no competition with, you know, charter schools, private schools, home schooling, the public school system is going to get worse.

WILLIAMS: I'm a big fan of school reform, I am all for it. But I do think -- I do think that if you have powerful parents in the school, you get more results.

ANDREA TANTAROS, CO-HOST: Wait, wait, wait. Is this saying President Obama is a bad person for sending them to private school?

GUTFELD: Yes!

(CROSSTALK)

TANTAROS: I guess he is.

The public schools have a lot of control now and are mucking it up, can't get it right. This is all about control. They want to control our kids. If we can just get them all under our watch, controlled by Department of Education, with this new curriculum we push down their throats, we can control them. We can give them plan B, we can teach them the history of garbage. We can teach them things like, I don't know, compost classes, which are really real classes in some schools.

GUTFELD: And I enjoyed that, because I've learned to compost.

Hey, Eric, the crux of the argument is really kind of charming, isn't it? And you see this lot. If you disagree with me, you are a bad person.

ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: Or you're not a socialist like me.

GUTFELD: Yes.

BOLLING: If everyone shares the common good, shares the common responsibility, shared responsibility, common good, that's the definition of socialism. That's what she wants.

She wants all the kids to go to the same school, everyone puts into the group so that everyone takes out.

You take out what you need. You put in what you can. That's the definition --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: I am in an odd position. Not only did I send my children to public school, I went -- private school, I went to a private school.

BOLLING: But you would agree that she has a good point.

WILLIAMS: She does have a point --

BOLLING: She does have a good point.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Katie mentioned it -- competition destroys socialism.

WILLIAMS: Let me just tell you something, 98 percent of American children go to public schools. Who doesn't go to public schools typically is people of means and wealth and high level of education. You know --

(CROSSTALK)

TANTAROS: That's why you should open it up to give, if you really want to spread the wealth around, give kids who are less fortunate the opportunity to go to some of these public schools. That would be a great argument for -- private school, someone like you, Juan.

PAVLICH: Sort of walking everyone into this failing public school system opened it up, and allow their students who aren't as privileged and parents who don't have a lot of money to make the decision where they send their kids.

GUTFELD: Yes. You know, about the logic if you get more people to get involved in a public program, the program will improve or the system will improve -- Ann Coulter points to the public bathroom as an example.

TANTAROS: That's what they're going to say about ObamaCare, get everybody into one place and you can get them all and we can control them, and it would be great. It's all about control.

BOLLING: Socializing.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: All right. When we come back, you've got questions and we have nothing -- I mean, we have answers. Go to Facebook.com/TheFiveRNC (sic) right now and you can ask us anything.

BOLLING: FNC.

TANTAROS: FNC.

GUTFELD: What did I say?

BOLLING: RNC.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: Hey, you gave it away, you gave your trick away.

BOLLING: You said RNC.

TANTAROS: Put on your glasses.

GUTFELD: THEFIVEFNC.

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