Thoughts on the First Day of School

  Here in my hometown, today is the first day of school.  I will share a few of my thoughts on the quality of education in America which, in my opinion, has gone downhill..

• There should be higher expectations of students in the basic courses.  Too much emphasis is made on whether the students are enjoying themselves in school. 
• The problems in today's government schools will not be solved by throwing more tax money at them.
• There is no need for a Federal Department of Education.  The control of the schools should be as localized as possible.  America does not need one-size-fits-all approach to education.
• One huge problem in the government schools is the amount of influence that the public employee labor unions have on the system.  For one thing, way too much tax money is being directed to pension plans instead of being used to benefit students.  Secondly, we all know that so much of the money collected as dues by these organizations is being directed to the Democrat Party, much of it from members who have different political viewpoints.
• I am outraged that right now the present administration in Washington is placing new regulations on parochial schools concerning health care mandates and contraception/abortion.  Even if you ignore the doctrinal issues, these mandates, if permitted, will cause the cost of educating a student to go up.  In the economic climate we have now, it has become more difficult to get parents to commit to paying tuition to get a Christian education.  Many schools are closing.  I happen to think that the present administration likes that trend.
• Schools in America apparently need to be doing a better job of teaching the development and content of the U.S. Constitution.  Today's political discourse indicates that there are great misunderstandings about the importance of the Constitution in the operation of our country.
• The task of the teacher is much harder now.  I think the biggest cause of this is that students and parents have less respect for teachers.  Parents, more so than ever, will believe just about anything their children tell them about their teachers.  Parents need to have the teachers' backs.  Teachers have been put on the defensive these days.  That should not be.
• I am still on the fence about school vouchers.  I just cannot seem to get past the idea that as government money is deposited into the parochial schools, it comes with a large amount of strings attached.  I fear the loss of control in the parochial schools.

Much more can be said. There could be another post on this topic in the future.