Get on the Bus

By Rick

February 14, 2006 5:54 PM | Link to this

Mary, I am curious, what did you find to agree with Susan? I agree with the first part of her sentence about dumbing down of our curriculum. That, however, was not caused by fundamental Christians who wanted to punish the US for its sinful ways. Rather, it was brought about by education “reformers” who were of a liberal stripe.

By Mary

February 14, 2006 10:15 AM | Link to this

Rick, I found things to agree with in both yours and Susan’s comments. Perhaps you two also agree with each other on some issues, and are not as far apart as you think.

By Rick

February 13, 2006 5:02 PM | Link to this

Wow! Susan must really hate Christians and Republicans. She ignores the fact that our educational system has been deteriating for decades. (See “A Nation at Risk” 1983 or “Why Johny Can’t Read,” written in the 1950s.) She believes Republicans are “waiting for the next thunderbolt from God as punishment for our heathen ways.” Yet the No Child Left Behind Act, while it has its flaws, puts teech into requiring schools to improve or face having their children eligible for vouchers.

By Kristen

February 9, 2006 8:10 AM | Link to this

When you google “research school vouchers,� you get a list of webpages discussing the pros and cons of school choice. You have advocacy groups from both sides either praising (like Alliance for School Choice) or dissing (like AFT, a teachers’ union) the concepts. I think it’s important to read the “About Us� sections on these types of websites to see who really are the people who are offering their opinions. With all due respect to Michele, it’s not surprising that a teacher union advocate will have little good to say about ideas that would significantly alter our current educational system. Even if all current research showed that there is only a little improvement in achievement (which is actually false), that’s still an improvement because these schools are doing it with less money, more teachers, less administration “bloat.� Change is hard. Significant change is harder but common sense tells us that it’s dumb to keep advocating more money, more money, when we really need a new approach.

By Michele

February 8, 2006 2:57 PM | Link to this

The President’s education budget summary talks about research that shows the effectiveness of vouchers, but a closer look finds this research is actually pretty limited. We talk more about the budget here: http://www.letsgetitright.org/blog/2006/02/budgettonowhere_1.html

By Mary

February 8, 2006 11:31 AM | Link to this

Regarding Henry Cate’s comments on “local control”, I think things possibly got worse under the “local control” movement which I think, ironically, the Republicans started. First of all, I have never seen a definition of what people think “local control” really is. I have not been impressed with the ability of locally elected board members to do the right thing for local students and families or the responsible thing for society. Generally speaking, locally elected boards are considered dysfunctional all across the nation. That is why New York City supposedly did something to wipe out the local board system (discussed in the book “Cheating our kids”). Furthermore, educational systems everywhere influence our quality of life. We are a fluid society and do not live in bubbles as cities, states and countries. The tone of the federal government has been somewhat more focussed on academics and more proactive than state and local authorities. The nation is in a crisis on educating the masses. We are all going to go down together if we do not shape up. For the time being, and perhaps forever, parental choice, vouchers, etc are the ultimate local control. I have no faith in local boards to do the intelligent thing, especially when they spend most of their energy blaming all educational problems on state and federal authorities and lack of money.

By kristen

February 8, 2006 8:59 AM | Link to this

The US is one of the world’s biggest spenders on education and yet we have mediocre achievement results to show for it. Take a look at just how much education spending has increased since 1998: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/BG1710.cfm Very few politicians support school vouchers and charter school development, options which would help solve many educational problems, because of the strength of the teacher union lobby. Oversimplifying the “priority� message to a theme “us vs. them� is not helpful. Absentee fathers and hence single mothers that remain poor throughout their lives is also damaging to individuals and our country overall.

By susan

February 8, 2006 8:37 AM | Link to this

as with the rest of the policy initiatives in everything from diplomacy to defense to the environment, this administration is more interested in biblical directives to guide decision-making than in making decisions that provide for the greater good of the nation. this is all being done during a time when our way of life is slipping through our fingers into the hands of a waiting, willing, motivated pool of skilled labor overseas. instead of investing in human capital, like prior generations, we are dumbing-down our science curriculum and waiting for the next thunderbolt from God as punishment for our heathen ways. could it be the puritans in the white house? as H.L. Mencken noted ‘The worst government is often the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.’

By Ryan

February 8, 2006 7:18 AM | Link to this

Wait, didn’t he just say last Tuesday(?) during the SotU address that he was increasing science education spending? How can we believe a word out of his mouth anymore?!?

By Henry Cate

February 7, 2006 11:57 PM | Link to this

For the first 150 years of our countries history the Federal Government had almost no role in education. As explained here: http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html Our country currently spends around $900 billion dollars a year. Over the last fifty years as the federal government has gotten more involved, there has been less local control. This is one of the major problems now in public schools. Schools no longer exist to respond to the wishes of the parents. I personally think education in The United States would greatly improve if the Federal government got out of education.

By Mary

February 7, 2006 5:28 PM | Link to this

It appears the President’s (like the legislature’s) priorities on the federal budget stink. We managed to spend a lot of federal money Sunday providing security for the Super Bowl, but can’t afford education programs.