The Start of the Discussion

The other night the wife and I took Pax for a walk. On this walk we got started talking about the possible next president. (We are not both of the same political affiliation). As I was making statements about things on which I'd heard, she accused me of making blanket accusations of candidates, which is true. But I feel more knowledgeable because I do listen to talk radio and read more about politics than she. But since she was right I have started to do research in order to have more information in my arguments. All this to say that over the next few days/weeks I will be discussing the issues as brought forth by the 3 major candidates. Yes I said 3. Our political system is failing miserably by only having been a two party system for so long. It has been like watching two sloths fight it out, slow and predictable. Now the Libertarians are making a name for themselves, more so than the Green Party ever did. With each post in this series I will discuss my feelings about each issue and then provide a link to each candidates page on the topic of the day to where you can get your own info and make your own decision. (Please do not only read the views of your party as this makes you a near sighted moron).

For today's topic: EDUCATION

It seems to be the consensus that our educational system is extremely broken. All the candidates agree<> that something needs to be done to bring America to the front of education in the world. Currently we are far behind the rest of the world. Examples: we rank #26 in student problem solving, #12 in reading ability, #24 in math and #19 in science. None of these are good numbers considering they only poll the top 40 developed/developing countries in the world.

Now each candidate has his own ideas how to change this. Bob Barr and John McCain are on a similar path by exerting we need to let parents choose which school their child may attend instead of the old mantra of " you live here so you child goes here". This doesn't allow for children who are out performing or under performing to have the opportunities to get the proper help or motivation. What both of these candidates are suggesting is letting the parents decide what school (or home school) is best for their child's need. Bob Barr takes it even further to say those who choose to take their child to a different school/home school can take their tax credits with them to that school or keep those credits at home. Thusly schools that perform better will receive better funding.And schools that do not perform well could end up closing. This would help in making our schools better, causing them to function in a competitive free market. We need our teachers/principles/school boards to work harder on educating, not just passing our children. John McCain has something similar but not to this extent. Bob Barr also believes in disbanding the Dept. of Education and bringing control of schools to at largest state level, but best case a city level.

Now Obama has gone into the most detail in plan on his web site. Breaking education into all levels, and dealing with each one individually. For the up to 5 yr olds, he wants to start educating them to get ready for school. This is a good idea. I think in some areas parents don't do much to prepare their children for school and they start out at a disadvantage. However Obama does say he will bring affordable high-quality child care for all working families, a lofty goal and probably and empty promise. Next he offers funneling more money into schools and No Child Left Behind. He says that we shouldn't just be preparing students all year to answer a standard test and not educate them. I fully agree with this. But we should get rid of the standard test; other wise it's just blowing smoke. The test should be how many of a teacher's students passed on to the next two grades. This way we institute a checks system. In most high schools you wont need two grades worth b/c you typically have a different teacher for each subject,therefore no one teacher has all the grades for a certain student. If that teacher passes X% of student in so many years a raise will be considered. Otherwise why should we pay a teacher more who isn't doing his/her job.
Next Obama wants to recruit more Math and Science professionals to teach. This is a great idea, but how do you get them to opt for a teacher starting salary over what they would receive in the competitive market. He also has good ideas on how to prepare and keep teachers. Lastly he tackles college. He offers tax credits and ease of applying for grants and loans to entice more kids to attend. I do believe we need more highly educated peolpe in America if we are to compete on a global level.

One of the problems with schools today is the government is so scared that we aren't having as many children move upwards and graduate that hey have dumbed our schools down. The answer is not bringing the bar down it is moving the bar up. This is why our schools are producing the numbers you saw in the opening paragraph. We need parents who are involved in their child's life to make them work to achieve these levels, not parents who complain that little Jenny's homework was to hard.

As promised here are the links. You decide for yourself who's right

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/19ce50b5-daa8-4795-b92d-92bd0d985bca.htm

http://www.bobbarr2008.com/issues/education-home-schooling/