Ron Paul launches libertarian-edged home school curriculum

FILE: April 5, 2012: Rep. Ron Paul speaks in Berkeley, Calif. (AP)

Ron Paul is retired from public office but has found a new way to spread his libertarian message – an online, home-school program that is based on the “history of liberty” and teaches the “biblical principles of self-government.”

The former Texas Republican congressman and three-time presidential candidate is offering the program, called the "Ron Paul Curriculum," free to parents and students in kindergarten through fifth grade. However, Paul, following his own belief in a free-market economy, is charging those wishing to continue through the 12th grade.

The 77-year-old Paul -- whose spirited 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns inspired legions of young libertarians -- has assembled a faculty-staff that includes author Tom Woods.

“For people who have been wondering what Ron Paul has been up to since retiring from Congress, then here’s your answers,” Woods said in announcing the start of the program. “This, I am convinced, will prove to be Ron Paul’s most significant contribution to the cause of liberty.”

The program includes instructional videos to help teach the eclectic curriculum -- with generic classes ranging from reading to note-taking to public speaking, as well as more Ron Paul-esque courses like Austrian School economics. From the candidate whose online support base helped drive his campaigns is also a class on how to start a YouTube channel.

Paul, a Libertarian presidential candidate in 1988, has also brought on Gary North, his first Capitol Hill research assistant, to be development director of the Ron Paul Curriculum.

Not missing an opportunity to question authority, the Paul team dismisses the program’s lack of government accreditation and textbooks, which they say are “screened by committees.”

North calls such accreditation “an illegitimate infringement on the right of parents to educate their children.” And another North essay on the school website is titled: “Accreditation: Should We Crawl on Our Bellies to the State?”

The K-5 curriculum is available now on the website, with the “money-back-guaranteed” material for sixth-12th grade scheduled for completion by September. The entire program is expected to be ready by December.

“It should teach the biblical principle of self government and personal responsibilities,” North said in a web video. “Secondly, it should be based on a detailed study of the history of liberty as well as liberty’s rivals.”