Education That Is Best for Kids and Parents

   I was pleased to hear some comments made during last night's debate concerning education.  Romney was the only one who framed his proposals withing the existing Department of Education.  The other three indicated they would either scale back extensively or completely eliminate the Department of Education. A few even suggested that the business of education be taken away from states as well.   I found that very refreshing.
   Over the years, the decision making in the realm of education has been removed from local communities and placed into the hands of the Federal government.  As a result, teachers, administrators, and parents have lost their sense of ownership of the schools.  I would also state that this has not even come close to being successful.  Putting the control in the hands of bureaucrats in Washington, DC has resulted in a cookie-cutter approach to running the schools.  A better approach would be to keep the control at a local level.  Parents, teachers, and administrators are well aware of the educational needs and desires of their neighborhoods.  As it is, too many people are put into a position of saying they have to do things a certain way because that is what is mandated by the Federal or state governments.  Here are some other aspects of this issue:

• The Federal government is all about control, not looking out for what is best for the students.
• Having the control of the schools at a Federal level allows for a tremendous influence by the giant teachers unions.  They, too, are not so much interested in what is best for the students.  They care about what is best for the teachers, and they are also interested in assisting the Democrat Party in keeping their control in Washington.
• Part of the control now in Washington is the control of what is taught in American classrooms.  What is being taught is basically what amounts to secular humanism.  In my opinion, this is a variety of religion in and of itself.  It is promoting a philosophy which translates into a political ideology which c borresponds with that of the Democrat Party.  It is insidious.
• Parents have basically given up on being able to control the education of their children.  They feel powerless.
• The solution to perceived failures in government schools has always been to throw more money at the problem.  It has NEVER worked.
• The existence of a Department of Education cannot be justified by  the US Constitution.

It is time for America to get back to doing what is really best FOR THE CHILDREN.   We need to spend much less time attempting to get religion out of the schools and spend more time getting politics out of the schools.  The schools need more freedom too.