Time to rethink the wisdom of Wisconsin vs. Yoder

President Obama

It is our responsibility as lawmakers and educators to make this system work. But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school, vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country

What does this mean for the Amish?

A friend of mine in a letter to the editor;

As stated in Jack Brubaker's Scribbler column of a week ago, there are now approximately 25,000 Amish in our county and, at current birth rates, that number is expected to double in 20 years.

Well, taking calculator in hand and rounding out a year for convenience, that works out to 50,000 by the year 2030, 100,000 by 2050 and over a half-million by the end of this century.

And, if we want to look seven generations ahead, as environmentalists tell us to do, that works out to about 16 million by the year 2200.

another writer responds to Phil

Phil expanded on that and projected that the Amish population of Lancaster County should be over a half-million by the end of this century and 16 million by the year 2200.

There must be some truth in the saying, "The meek shall inherit the earth."

This is all really funny right now, but once the reality of this population difference starts to be felt it's not going to be fun and games any more. The Amish would've been much better off if they had stayed in the public school system all along, instead of isolating themselves into some fringe cocoon. It would've taken sacrifice on their part, but what's coming at them now isn't going to come without a price.

At the very moment that the Amish are entering the non-agrarian work force in droves, their educational readiness to do so is moving in the opposite direction.


Here's a link to a lecture by Steven Nolt via Amish America in which he mentions three schools in Indiana that were run by the public school system but were attended by Amish students. The schools recently closed, as did a similar one here in Lancaster county. Right at the moment when they could be a shining example of a way forward those doors seem to be slamming shut.