Posts tagged Education

abaldwin360:

On 23 May, the Romney campaign released its education policy white paper titled A Chance for Every Child: Mitt Romney’s Plan for Restoring the Promise of American Education. If you liked the George W Bush administration’s education reforms, you will love the Romney plan. If you think that turning the schools over to the private sector will solve their problems, then his plan will thrill you.

The central themes of the Romney plan are a rehash of Republican education ideas from the past 30 years, namely, subsidizing parents who want to send their child to a private or religious school, encouraging the private sector to operate schools, putting commercial banks in charge of the federal student loan program, holding teachers and schools accountable for students’ test scores, and lowering entrance requirements for new teachers. These policies reflect the experience of his advisers, who include half a dozen senior officials from the Bush administration and several prominent conservative academics – among them, former Secretary of Education Rod Paige and former Deputy Secretary of Education Bill Hansen, and school choice advocates John Chubb and Paul Peterson.

Unlike George W Bush, who had to negotiate with a Democratic Congress to pass No Child Left Behind, Romney feels no need to compromise on anything. He needs to prove to the Republican party’s base – especially evangelicals – that he really is conservative. And this plan is “mission accomplished”.

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Of course he (and the rest of the right) want to gut public schools. An educated public is much harder to control. 

nonplussedbyreligion:

I saw this over on Facebook.  Usually I don’t read through the comments on pages that aren’t run by friends, but the very first comment on this was hard to ignore.  It said:

Citizen: I don’t want to be governed

Goverment: OK, bye.

I don’t know the person who posted that comment, and for all I know they could have been joking.  The problem is there are so many who really believe this.  They think that some of us “liberals” want nothing more than to be ungoverned heathens.  I can’t speak for the rest of you, but for me, that could not be further from the truth.

I believe in government and leadership, but I also believe that those charged with governing me, or the nation, should do so without bias.  Our economy is doing terribly. Basic necessities like food, toiletries, and gas are ever increasing in price, out of the range of many, regardless of them living within their means.   I almost have more empty houses on my street than I do neighbors, and I still know people just waiting for the bank to foreclose on the houses they walked away from months ago.  Healthcare is not affordable for many, forcing some to choose between their life saving medications or being able to feed their family.  Our unemployment rate may be improving, but as someone who worked in HR for years, and with many friends who were professionals, I know that the number of under-employed is not improving.  Our education system needs major revamping; student loan debt alone will bury many new grads before they can even find a job or career to cover that debt.   Women and minorities are still treated like second class citizens who need to be spoken for and at, by members of our government.  This barely scratches the surface of the many depressing things wrong with our nation, yet in an election year, candidates are placing emphasis on things that should not be issues and violate civil rights, instead of offering solutions to fix the real problems.

I want to be governed, but I’m sick and tired of not being governed well.  I’m tired of dealing with politicians that use their platform as a pulpit, subjecting the rule of the country to the laws of their gods.  There cannot be fair and unbiased leadership if one is governing based on their faith.  Period.  Abortion, birth control, homosexuality, creationism, are all things that are part of political debates; but why?  We hear the audience’s loud applause when their politician of choice shares their stance on all of these issues.  What we don’t here is them asking how the hell is any of this going to create jobs, fix the economy, better utilize the empty houses to help those who are now homeless, or improve our education system.   We don’t hear them asking how stopping a person from having an abortion or marrying the gender of their choosing is going to accomplish anything to make America better.  They just clap, cheer, and say amen.

I want to be governed, but I want to be governed well.  I can’t remember the last time that happened.  With our political climate the way it is, I don’t anticipate that happening any time soon, not even after the election in November; regardless of the outcome.  The hostile divisiveness and fighting amongst our politicians, behind and across party lines, is so rarely about what is good for the nation as a whole.  Many can’t even articulate why they are against something other than to say they are against the politician that proposed it.  Many of our leaders are terrible wastes of power and need to be removed.  The problem is, those looking to replace them don’t give me much hope either.

I want to be governed, but I’m doubtful of ever seeing a future where the real issues will be the priority, and politicians willingly put their petty bullshit aside for the greater good of the nation.  Maybe I’m the one with the problem here.  I know politics and politicians well enough to stop expecting better, yet I keep wanting better.

This is long, but I live in Arizona and unfortunately I read my local political news before I saw the above post on Facebook.  It’s just a bit overwhelming to realize I can’t win politically on a State or National level these days.  

(via skepticalavenger)