May as well start this off with something fun. I’m sure everyone will agree with my point of view.
My view: The federal government’s involvement in Education is, at best, marginally supported by the founding documents of our nation. Our government was founded to do, in the best interest of the majority of the citizens, those things which the citizens cannot do themselves. I feel that an educated populous is essential to the maintenance of our republic and as such can see some, minimal, participation by the Federal Government in the education of the populous.
I would accept the Federal Government setting and even monitoring standards for education. This would have the purpose of seeing that a relatively equal educational opportunity could be had by a citizen anywhere in the land. The Federal government might even be allowed to offer educational subsides to students in areas or skills needed by the Government Agencies, as in providing a free education for a military officer in return for many years of service. Beyond that, I think the administration of government education should be delegated to the States and localities. Money spent at the state and (better) at the local level are more easily accounted for and almost always more efficiently employed.
The Federal Government Budget for Education now runs around $70,000,000,000 ($70 Billion). The size, complexity, and lack of purpose of the Department of Education is nothing short of amazing. $70,000,000,000 buys us over 20 Boards and Commissions. And, this is the smallest cabinet level department in our government with ‘only’ about 5,000 employees
So I would leave ‘No Child Left Behind’ behind and cut out about 90% of the Federal spending. I believe if half the money spent on each public school pupil were allowed as a voucher that could be taken to any school, our public schools would have the competition they need and our parents could decide what is best for their kids.
This Department and its mission need to be rebuilt from the ground up, as a sub-cabinet agency.
Sorry, this got a bit carried away. I will try to be more concise on the remainder of the issues.
Mr. Obama’s Plan for Education – Mr. Obama wants the federal Government to provide far more education dollars in the form of subsidized child care, and 0-5 year old education, increased non-English language teaching, after school programs, etc. He is proposing a multitude of new and innovative ways to spend money on the Federal level for education. I have not heard where he will get the money to pay for all this. I think it will come from you and me. I think it will buy a lot of support and votes from the NEA. Mr. Obama is very consistent on this issue. For his entire public life, he has voted for more spending for education at every level. From his history, I predict that this is one area you can believe his pre-election promises. He will push to spend far more federal Dollars on education.
GRADE: D-
Mr. McCain’s Plan – Mr. McCain believes in home schooling and private schools as acceptable sources of education. In other words, he is in favor of school choice. He favors voucher programs, at least for inner city kids. He is in favor of spending more on early childhood education but not as fervently as does Mr. Obama. His other plans for education spending look similar but less liberal than Mr. Obama’s. He will do nothing to cut back on the size or cost of the education bureaucracy. His record is that he has shown little interest and has voted rarely (and usually against) education legislation. In 1994, he said, “I think that given the origins of the Department of Education, I would favor doing away with it.
GRADE: C (An A if he followed through with getting rid of the cabinet level Department of Education).
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October 8, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Patrick
I am definitely in favor of school choice. But I have a number of concerns:
1) If people can choose any school they want, I am afraid that people would start making those decisions on all sorts of criteria, like a certain position on teaching creationism, a certain position on gender roles, a certain racial majority, etc. Then schools would start marketing themselves on those criteria, rather than academic excellence.
2) I think education is one of the best uses of my tax dollars, but I don’t want those dollars going to some school that teaches a view I disagree with. There are lots of things in the curriculum of Public schools that I disagree with, but, at least in theory, that curriculum is determined by elected officials or at least their appointees, so I have some representation in the process.
3) One of the biggest issues with Charter and Private schools opening is that they take students away from existing public schools. Schools generally get paid by the government on a per-student basis, but many of their costs are fixed. If we increase school choice we will increase fragmentation, which will make it harder for any one school to have any decent facilities.
I’m not sure how to address these concerns. I am encouraged by the expansion of Charter schools around the country. I’m not quite sure how funding Charter schools is different than funding private schools with vouchers… I need to learn more on this topic.
October 8, 2008 at 9:03 pm
ttoes
Thanks, Patrick. I share some of your concerns, but not too much.
1) I challenge your assumption that academic excellence should be the number one criteria for all schools and especially that it is in our current system of public education in many areas. First, many schools number one criteria is set by their union and that is the retention and fair pay of the teachers. Second, not all schools should have an “academic” orientation. Some people are not wired for academic success but would be made better more productive citizens by learning a trade or physical skill. Having said that I would encourage a strong orientation toward academic excellence and feel that would be advanced by the competition created by school choice.
2) I agree almost completely. I also know from experience that the best spent tax dollars are those spent in ways determined locally. I still feel there is very little need for Federal dollars in education, at least through the level of high school. The best way to have input and to ensure the proper use of your tax dollars is to participate in your children’s schools. In theory we can all do that, and, if more parents did, we would have far better schools.
3) I think it is the job of the government, should this be the case, that they budget for such a contingency (less kids in public schools) or make the schools more competitive so they don’t lose the students.
4) My one fear about school choice that you did not enumerate is the fact that government programs almost never give dollars without strings attached. Ask Hillsdale and Union Colleges what happens when you accept students with government loans. They both found themselves being sued by the Federal Government for not adhering to the terms of the student loan contract, i.e. keeping statistics for the government to produce racial profiles of the campuses (I know…campi).
Have you ever thought about your position on School Choice as compared to your views on a Woman’s Choice, or the choice to terminate your own life? Might be a topic for a fun future conversation.
Tom
October 8, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Patrick
I think my position on all three is pretty similar: I strongly believe 1) that people should be allowed to terminate their own lives, 2) that women should be allowed to have an abortion, and 3) that parents should be allowed to homeschool their kids or send them to any school of their choice.
Whether or not public funds should be used for any of those three, however, is another, more complex, story.
I do think that the question of how much control parents should have over their kids is an intriguing one. What level of physical punishment should be allowed? Should parents be able to keep their kids from doing schoolwork at all? When does the best interest of society (i.e. that kids be kept safe and educated) trump the rights of parents?