Today the boys and gals are back to work, all 3 days a week, that is, Washington will be a buzz of health reform, cap and trade, investigations and, you guessed it…..education.
The smug egocentric media is all a tither with a week or two a year pushing the pros of the education system…their biggy is the “charter school” experiment that is having some good results…..however, the truth is that it is a lottery and we are betting on the roll of a white bingo ball…sounds like an excellent plan for our children’s future…..wouldn’t you say?
The first humorous thing is the the media types that are so gung-ho send their children to private schools and none of the stuff they are championed concerns them…..they spend time telling us the good things that the country is doing and the practices that we should continue….once again, the problem is …..we have this moments every year and every year our educational system gets worse….but this year with this Congress everything will be better…..(pause here for raucous laughter)……..
The president will do his part…….
President Obama is ready to turn education reform into the new priority for his administration and will outline his goals during the State of the Union address. “But trouble signs are already emerging,” reports the Associated Press. There has been lots of talk in Washington lately about how education might offer the White House the best chance for bipartisan legislation, but a number of issues could end up derailing the efforts. Democrats want a full overhaul of No Child Left Behind and insist it has to be done this year, before the 2012 campaign takes over the political agenda. Republicans, on the other hand, favor an incremental approach and insist they will not approve any new spending. “I like the piecemeal approach,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California. “If you do it in bite-size pieces, you can tell what needs to be tweaked as you go.”
Once again the education in this country will be NOT as important as it should be…..and just as usual our children will pay the price of a DO NOTHING government……
I’d guess you’re right. I do agree (generally) with Rep. Duncan Hunter – if you change two or more things at the same time and there is improvement (or the opposite) you can’t tell which change might be responsible.
Cetainly I agree that education is bedrock on which any country aims to build its future – get it wrong and you find that your foundations are set in quicksand.
However, it also seems to me that, in the US, just as in the UK, it’s SOCIETY that needs fixing before you even attempt to educate it – I mean what is the point of trying to teach aesthetics to a moron with a machine gun – he (or she) has no desire whatsoever to be anything other than a moron and he (she) is still gonna kill you, so education is sort of superfluous, don’t you think?
You (and we, in the UK) have done a great job of telling the great unwashed how wondefully equal they all are and how much we all care. Sadly, we forgot to educate them in art first – that is in the “art” of being a decent human being.
Where we go from here I have no idea, but I suspect that “off a bloody great cliff” is involved somewhere along the line!
Quin, the US has been tweeking the system for 50+ years and we fall further and further behind…it is time to take it out of the hands of the idiots running state governments and make it a national priority….
Yeah, well… you have this state/fed thing that I see as pretty much a recipe for achieving f*ck all. But hey! It’s the American way I guess… 🙁
Yes it is…talk alot and do little…a tried and true formula….
We cannot teach the art of being a decent human being because religion will rear its ugly head. Too many wackos have their own opinion of what being decent is. In this country many still believe hating blacks and killing for jesus is somehow decent.
The word “education” sounds good on the campaign trail, but sadly it never amounts to much more than a campaign slogan.
Ill stick with my slogan for America, “Yes We Cant!”
True…and that is why I say that it should be a national policy and not a local one…..
Yeah, Phillip. I’m with both of you on this. Until you have a NATIONAL curriculum with things like local affairs (bigotry) and various religions (actually ALL religions) sidelined to a lesson once a week or month, you’re gonna get precisely nowhere!
Furthermore, political correctness needs to be stamped out, as does much of the futile litigation culture which largely only serves lawyers and bureaucrats. Children and young people need to learn from a very early age that bad and inconsiderate behaviour WILL come back to haunt them and THEY will have to take responsibility for THEIR actions.
THOSE are the principal lessons that need to be taught before you can ever consider other subjects because ONE bad student can disrupt a whole class, or even a whole school full of otherwise willing students and prevent them from learning a damned thing.
You said it in one word quin, responsibilty. How can we teach do as i say not as i do. Our leaders do not set a good example for our youth on being responsible.
Every state at election time candidates talk about the importance of education and then when it is all over here is what normally happens…..
Public education in Texas is facing billions in proposed budget cuts that would include slashing arts education, pre-kindergarten programs and teacher incentive pay as lawmakers take on a massive deficit with the promise of no new taxes.
Lawmakers got their first glimpse of what the next state budget might look like late Tuesday, including the $5 billion cut to public schools, as Republican Gov. Rick Perry and his supporters were dancing at an inaugural celebration.
Texas is facing a $15 billion revenue shortfall, and few corners of state government were spared in the draft proposal for the next two years. The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget, and Republican leaders have vowed not to raise taxes.
But the budget does propose millions of dollars in new fees. For instance, state employees and retirees who smoke would pay a $30-a-month “tobacco user monthly premium surcharge” and the attorney general’s office would charge an “annual child support service fee,” a “monthly child support processing fee” and an “electronic filing of documents fee.”
How come half of the country is blind to this idiocracy. The southern right wing creed is ” We are going to promise what you want, give you what we want, and take it out on children.” Does anyone see where this is going??? In 50 years the republican congress wont be able to read the constitution, because they cant read. America is doomed. Education is vital to any countries survival and the right doesnt give a damn! They love america, just not all of it.
Good point…but Phillip it seems to be the most ignorant in the states that have lousy education……coincidence?