Wow! You want me to write a book right here on FR.
I certainly do not believe there is any role for the Federal government in education. It is my opinion that the Department of Education is unconstitutional.
I'm not sure what the "current system" is because it is hardly monolithic. Lots of kids at some public schools may come out not being able to connect Abraham Lincoln with the "Civil War," but that wasn't the case for my kids and it wasn't the case for me. (Of course none of us learned what a lowlife Lincoln was.) For my kids, especially, they got a classical education in (public) high school, including four years each of Latin, that is the sort of education the colleges should be giving but don't. (One went to UVa. The other is about to begin his final semester at Cornell.)
I'm not a teacher, a former teacher, or a union member. I think teachers' unions are especially bad for education generally.
Public schools can work, but if I were king I would probably eliminate them in favor of private schools. Home schooling seems to work well in the few cases I know about, but I'm not sure that it can ever educate more than a tiny fraction of the population.
As for realistic solutions, the first is to revert to local control. I absolutely believe that NCLB programs should be eliminated unless local school districts want to implement them.
I think that the civil courts should have absolutely no say in what happens in a public school. (Read Democracy by Decree to see that even liberals know they've screwed things up with their advocacy suits.)
ML/NJ
Thanks, I have to agree with you on almost every point. I am a former teacher, saw first hand what a mess the unions make of things. Was laid of on senority even though my work for the school was benefitting a large number of students. Got paid the same whether I worked hard or not. I don't disagree that the feds have no place in education, but I can see the side of the arguement that says maybe local control has been lost to the side with the union power. In this case something needs to break the union power, or we just let the "current union led system control the vast majority of school districts until somehow the locals come to their senses.
If the locals were going to come to their senses I guess they would have by now. So NCLB places some accountability and testing on the schools. Maybe this will expose some incompetance so that the local voters will take back their schools. I would agree that the dept of education should be abolished but maybe with some accountability creeping in the left will add their support to getting rid of the fed role?
My child went through public school, I deprogrammed him in the evenings. He is getting a basic education now in Auburn. (One of the schools that still teaches a core in great literature, although he is not interested in latin, good for you though) Lots of his classmates carried sighs for Kerry after school for extra credit points. Public schools are not doing well, and if a system could be found to break them I would be for it. (I supported vouchers for that reason) I agree with you that education would be better if it was all private, but I can see how truely poor and illegal immigrants would not like it. Any change will probably come slowly, or would be highly disruptive.