Education reform - higher education

Hi

Higher education is what makes the country run. We need the best quality education in order to maintain our freedoms. However, there is room for reform.

The cost of college education is skyrocketing. The primary thing to control is costs for tuition and board. Most students end up paying for tuition by parental savings,student loans and part time work. If a household has two siblings attending college at the same time most families cannot afford the cost of college, so we should address what is left -student loans.

Under our current system most colleges have advisers who help students get financial help. If help is not enough the next resort is student loans. The federal government backs up the loan, in effect, the taxpayers are cosigners. My opinion is that the federal government should get some thing in return. I refer you to my earlier posts concerning Compulsory Military Service. The approval of the government sponsored loan should be conditioned on a full term service in the military plan. Under my service plan a person gives one year time in the military in exchange for a guaranty of a student loan. I feel that this would be the first step in controlling college costs.

Please pray for our brave service people
GOD Bless

How do we reform education?

Hi

This is a follow up on earlier writings about education. For purpose of blogging I will split my thoughts between higher (college and above) and Grade school through high school. The first issue is how to fax the non college portion.

As the law now stands we have a weird hodgepodge of rules and regulations. Who needs them? The vast bureaucracy called the Department of Education is nothing more than a monitor. The Tenth Amendment to our Constitution reserves the right to regulate education to the states, not the federal government. I know that education will improve if the control is in the local school boards as opposed to Washington. To get the federal government out of education is simple, repeal all federal laws regulating education. It makes sense to me that if a school needs a new building as opposed to teacher raises the school should make that decision.

How to get federal aid to education to the states, I am opposed. If the majority choose to keep funding schools then we need a sensible plan. With modern technology it is easy for schools to do a clerical job of creating a census of school attendance. This census should contain the social security number of the student. Today most people obtain a social security number at birth so that part is already in existence. The federal government can compile a national listing of VALID attendees based on the social security number. The next step is simple, add the total student census for the country and divide into the funds allotted for education and determine a per capita amount of subsidy. This amount is block granted to the state, no strings or other conditions attached.

I see two improvements which will come of this system, first being that only students validly in the United States will count. Bogus social security numbers will be weeded out. If the local school board wishes to continue educating "illegals" then it must do so at local taxpayer expense. The second plus is that the bureaucracy of the Department of Education will be cut and the costs will be saved. Win - win.

I hope that our politicians in Washington will fix the problem. We need it.

Pray for our troops.
GOD Bless

The budget cuts keep coming

Hi

One of my favorite areas to cut spending is education. Not on education but rather on the Department of Education. Another vast federal department that has gotten out of hand.

The education in this country can be demonstrated by explaining how the Department of Education works. There are 3 classes of people who work in education, the educators, (teachers, aides,etc), the administrators, (principals, school board members etc), and the service people, (janitors, lunchroom monitors and school crossing guards,etc). All are needed but the more we pay for the 2 classes of non teaching roles the less money becomes available for the teachers.
Enter the federal government, The Department of Education. Rules for what to teach, schools being graded, and excessive paperwork to secure federal aid. Why, do we really need this bureaucracy?
At this point there is a question about Tenth Amendment rights. The Tenth Amendment limits the role of the federal government and education is not a function of the federal government. For the sake of this blog I will assume we want to subsidize education.

Currently the states must file a report of several thousand pages to get federal funding. What if we were to substitute this with a simple census report prepared by the schools. After the census report is prepared the state can collect and collate the school district reports. Then file with a slimmed down Department of Education, and allot funds in a per capita basis. The local schools know what they need, new schools, renovation, teacher salaries, etc. The control is now shifted to the local school away from the bureaucrats in DC. This can also be a monitor in the control of illegal aliens bleeding our school districts.

If we go the route of cutting the Department of Education then a portion of the savings can be included in the grants to the schools. The portion not sent to the states can be eliminated from our budget. A win-win situation.

Our troops need our support and prayers, please remember them.
GOD Bless

Another spending cut we must make

Hi

I just read a report today about some rather unusual spending by the department of education. I could hardly believe my eyes but now I want to share this with you.

Here in Texas the daily papers are full of stories about cities like Austin, the State Capitol, having to shut schools for lack of money. The today I read that the US Department of Education is giving over a million dollar grant to a school district in northern Texas. The reason for the grant is to establish a program to study Arabic (Islam).Is this necessary when we have trillions of dollars of debt. I think that the Washington establishment (government) has lost it. Where does it end?

Please bear this in mind when you go to the polls to vote. Your vote does count.

Please keep praying for our armed forces, we certainly need them in these times.
GOD Bless

Department of Education

Hi

First let me make the point, "I am not against education." I have an advanced degree and that has helped me climb the economic ladder. Of course being born in the United States made it possible.

My problem is how we go about educating (or not educating) our future generations. We spend money but it seems that the more we spend the more the education system fails. We must ask ourselves why. The obvious answer, money does not translate into a good education system. What does?

The most important factor in educating our children is the attitude of the parents. Any teacher will tell you that where schools involve the parents the quality of education rises. Maybe we should have mandatory classes for parents. Not very practical. So what do we do? Alternative methods are many and will vary with each family so one size does not fit all. The educators must be creative in this area.

The next area is the intervention of the federal government. This method of educating presupposes that all students fit into a formula. Not so. Washington bureaucrats should not meddle, they only cause distractions and false results. How many actual teachers work for the Department of Education? Answer, NONE. All the budget for the department could be funneled into class rooms. If the federal government must meddle, let them block grant funds to the state where it could be managed more efficiently. To solve the problem of what to do with the Department of Education employees, retrain them and use them as border security. Solves two problems and at no cost to the taxpayer. What a novel thought.

The real problem is getting Washington to agree. Don't hold your breath. More to come.

Keep our heroic service people in your prayers.
GOD Bless

Education

Hi

Today I read some very interesting things about the status of education in the United States. I'll show how ironic the situation is by showing two different angles.

As most of you know Senator Harry Reid is in a close election for his senate seat. On the TV news there was a clip where Senator Reid tried to knock down his opponent by saying she favors elimination of the Department of Education. Keep that in mind as we move to New Jersey.

The federal program to aid states for education entails a request which is quite large, I understand that the application is about one thousand (1,000) pages. New Jersey made a clerical error on the form and the federal aid was rejected. In compiling statistics the wrong year(s) were used. To further complicate the matter the teachers union in New Jersey added that had the union been asked to help the form would not have been rejected.

Now let's tie the two together. The Department of Education mandates that a state complete a thousand page report in order to get state aid, and bureaucrats in Washington,D.C. are too engrossed in their own "fiefdom" to help a state correct what should be non fatal errors. Had the teachers union been consulted maybe the bureaucrats would have reached a different conclusion. Is this looking out for the education of our children or is it another case of caving and yielding to special interests? You decide.

Back to Senator Reid, I have two questions:

1. Could you please show me where the United States Constitution authorizes the Department of Education?
2. Doesn't the type of bureaucracy at the Department of Education warrant closing this monstrous department?

Senator Reid, the American people reserve legitimate answers, not empty rhetoric. Get with the program. Your opponent has it right.

Disclaimer: Much of the information contained in this blog is taken from the Heritage Foundation website. A great read. Thanks to them.

Please find it in your heart to pray for our brave heroes defending our great nation.
GOD Bless