Anyway, back to the subject at hand -- An email this morning from Tom Daschle and the Democratic Governor's Association
Interesting. Here's a Madison quote... and another... and another... and another... One of the things that really disturbs me of this latest TeaPartyish wingnuttism is the utter disregard they have for the civic history of this country. In this case, public education has a long and prosperous history in this country, directly tied to Freedom by the founders, directly mentioned as a defense against tyranny... but here we see people suggesting there is no civic duty to educate kids unless the majority of the people think it should happen. Thankfully, the majority of people still think it should happen. Here's Madison again, talking directly to the current wingnut contingent...
On the education front, IMO most of you are arguing for the same goal only by different routes. I'm with Tallanver on the elimination of the Department of Education because the money would be better spent by sending it directly to the states proportional to student populations in those states. Again, IMO, we need to channel more money into teacher pay and teaching aids (and aides) rather than administration. Look at the budgets for Houston school districts. Administrators make hundreds of thousands of dollars each, for example. By eliminating school boards and districts and combining the districts into the Texas regional system, we can achieve several beneficial results. 1) Equalization of teacher pay and per student budget allocations. 2) More money for teacher pay and educational budgets. 3) Greater uniformity of teaching methodology and standards. 4) Money for buses that would allow students to remain in the same school even though a parent or parents move to another part of the city, which currently disrupts the learning process of their child / children. 5) Easier to implement uniform programs for playground time and activities, de-emphasis of schools as sports training grounds rather than education centers, better control of what vending machines sell and other actions to combat childhood obesity. The argument against consolidation is the loss of "community control." However, this concept is a myth. As I have said before, I'll bet one person in 100 can name two or more school board members. Further, I'll bet there is only one in a 1,000 who could name their entire school board and when/where they meet. Personally, I just want a better, more effective educational system rather than opportunities for little empires created on the backs of children.
I think most of that can be done with the DoE intact. I think without it, it would be virtually impossible to implement in any kind of uniform manner without one. I like your goals and ideas, I just think the DoE would be needed to get them implemented.
Whereas some form of national oversight is needed, a whole department is unnecessary. I remember the days before the split up of HEW (Department of Health, Education and Welfare). All three divisions got too big for their britches so we created a grand, new plateau of empire building. However, that is a different thread, as is the education issue, and really not part of the "Midterms" thread. Anyway, IMO we need to reduce the empires -- get the money to the point of attack.
I love how folks are quick to decry the Department of Education and tend to let other departments like DoD slip by.
Here are the basic programs of the Dept of Education: Safe and Drug Free Schools Innovation and Improvement Special Ed and Rehab Services English Language Acquisition Elementary and Secondary Education Federal Student Aid Vocational and Adult Education Postsecondary Education Which would you do away with? By the way, ED (Not DOE, which is Energy) is the smallest of departments with about 5,000 employees. For comparison's sake, that's about 1/3 of the Park Service (which is in the Department of the Interior) and 1/3 of Los Alamos National Lab (which is in DOE). The current budget is $69 billion, the vast bulk of which go to grants and such that help local schools, universities, and initiatives. That's less than 2% of the entire budget. (All that said, I hate NCLB.)
DHS is an abomination and should be done away with... or at least restructured and renamed. That said, it takes a lot of folks to work security at airports, respond (sometimes) to disasters, patrol the borders, and staff the Coast Guard.
I was just pointing out how this particularly enormous federal department that didn't even exist prior to the most recent Republican administration is never targeted by the wingnuts as "wasteful bureaucracy." No, they go after the much more oppressive FDA or Department of Education.
All of them. States can provide these if their residents want it. It is not getting rid of the employees that saves money. It is getting rid of the programs that saves money, and 2% is a lot. Go talk to some mother of a family that has a tight budget. She will tell you squeezing every penny is what makes the difference.
I don't really think he believes the stuff he posts. It's just a giggle for him. But as I said, I wish he would stop high jacking the thread. If he wants’ to discuss cutting the Dept of Ed he should start his own thread.
So, there would be no national accreditation of universities, no assistance for people with disabilities, no Pell grants, no national standards... to name a few. And more than likely she'll sacrifice just about everything she can to make sure her kids get a good education so they can have a better life than she does.
I get chewed out if I don't respond to people who respond to me. I get chewed out if I do. As for the topic of the thread what do you think of the WV senate race? From what I read Manchin is getting crushed because West Virginians want him as their governor so they won't vote for him to go to the Senate.
They would exist if a state's residents want it. The state would provide these things (except for of course the national accreditation of universities).
Haven't been following it very closely so can't really comment, but it looks to be a toss up race. Only a 2 point overall average difference.
