I want to see the government unentangle itself from education as well as a lot of other things it was never intended for it to do. The problem is that we have a huge structure to demolish and it would be nice to do so in the least disruptive way possible. I am fearful that no one has the intelligence, perseverance and patience to accomplish this, which is where I sense you are.
I believe bad education is a crime against all children and that the poor have the least chance of overcoming the evil that is perpetrated on them. I believe poor education is the disease that has crime, violence, hate and hopelessness as its symptoms and it is spreading and will lead to "don't go" zones and perpetual riots in our cities. This is a terrible waste of humanity.
Once a transition is completed I believe a hands-off is mostly possible but to start I believe that the federal, state and local governments need to pool the education budgets they have and cut education only checks for students (parents). Leave it up to the market to form educational institutions. There will be scams. There will be inadequate schools. There will be every kind of school you can imagine formed to collect these checks. In the end, people are not fools and will find what works best for them and all of society will be better off.
Oh, what happens to taxes? Why should people that can afford to pay get checks? I don't care about these issues. Those that can afford basic education can apply the check to better education. I only care that everyone gets to choose and the market has to compete every day to provide them with the best that they can afford. Would schools charge more because of the government subsidy? They can charge anything they want but in a competitive market, they will need to supply something that people are willing to pay for. Over time the fixed supplements will pay for less but more people will be in position to pay the overage. The volume of those that cannot pay should drop and stabilize. It would be interesting to determine the level that cannot be served by the market and if private charities would not be the answer at that point.
Are these schools "social"? Internet? Religious? Secular? Academic? Vocational? Yes, if you want it, select it. It is none of my business, nor the government's.
Posted by $CBJ 8 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
Without what? Government schools, social media or something else? People were becoming educated long before the Internet existed and before governments took over the "responsibility" for educating everyone's children.
Posted by $CBJ 8 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
It's not the government's responsibility to provide children with personal and social interactions. And there are plenty of free Internet sites that provide actual educational courses and are not part of the "social media" crowd.
Posted by $CBJ 8 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
An orderly shutdown should take less than a year. Repeal compulsory attendance laws, withdraw all taxpayer funding, sell all the educational real estate, and after that let the free market sort it out.
People who think consider many ideas seriously. They evaluate, test and accept or reject as the objective evidence dictates by rational analysis. The more of this one does the more worthy their statements are for our consideration.
You are correct. Bill Ayers tried that---Weather Underground.
Then he graduated with a PhD. in Elementary Education, and changed the whole landscape. He should have been imprisoned for sabotage of government building in DC.
Because local districts receive federal money, instead of total reliance on property taxes of the district, the feds do have control over content, and those who control the publishing of the textbooks also have control over content.
As usual, a brilliant piece by a brilliant man. I only have one thing to add: Prohibiting charter schools or home schooling is done mostly so that the "education system" can retain control over content.
Posted by $CBJ 8 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
I disagree. Education, its definition and its funding are not proper functions of federal, state or local government. Thanks to the Internet, high-quality learning tools are available at minimal cost for anyone who wishes to access them. Those desiring more specialized educational products for themselves or their children should obtain them in the marketplace.
I agree but someone needs to wind it down and set up the mechanism to put this into state and local control. I posted previously about how, on so many issues, it would be treat to start with a clean sheet of paper but that does not exist so we have to undo the harm from the past as we begin anew.
Close the Dept of Education completely, eliminate the federal income taxes that are used to corrupt state and local representatives, and let parents control the way their children are educated. This is not a proper constitutional function of the federal government.
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I believe bad education is a crime against all children and that the poor have the least chance of overcoming the evil that is perpetrated on them. I believe poor education is the disease that has crime, violence, hate and hopelessness as its symptoms and it is spreading and will lead to "don't go" zones and perpetual riots in our cities. This is a terrible waste of humanity.
Once a transition is completed I believe a hands-off is mostly possible but to start I believe that the federal, state and local governments need to pool the education budgets they have and cut education only checks for students (parents). Leave it up to the market to form educational institutions. There will be scams. There will be inadequate schools. There will be every kind of school you can imagine formed to collect these checks. In the end, people are not fools and will find what works best for them and all of society will be better off.
Oh, what happens to taxes? Why should people that can afford to pay get checks? I don't care about these issues. Those that can afford basic education can apply the check to better education. I only care that everyone gets to choose and the market has to compete every day to provide them with the best that they can afford. Would schools charge more because of the government subsidy? They can charge anything they want but in a competitive market, they will need to supply something that people are willing to pay for. Over time the fixed supplements will pay for less but more people will be in position to pay the overage. The volume of those that cannot pay should drop and stabilize. It would be interesting to determine the level that cannot be served by the market and if private charities would not be the answer at that point.
Are these schools "social"? Internet? Religious? Secular? Academic? Vocational? Yes, if you want it, select it. It is none of my business, nor the government's.
Bill Ayers tried that---Weather Underground.
Then he graduated with a PhD. in Elementary Education, and changed the whole landscape. He should have been imprisoned for sabotage of government building in DC.
You all know he is a former Marxist, don't you?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_S...
And Internet content can also be controlled. Zuckerberg (Facebook) and YouTube as well exercise authority over content on their websites.
This is not a proper constitutional function of the federal government.