Replies

I'd rather see the Feds insist on academic standards than sex-ed, however, and I think this is a positive move.

Bush has also put considerable effort into trying to get voucher programs passed. I think this is where conservative efforts should go.

Personally, I think homeschooling is the best option, but I realize that many people can't do it, for one reason or another. Vouchers would solve the whole problem, but unfortunately, there's not enough support in Congress or at the state level to get this program past the teachers'unions and the entrenched education bureacracy on the massive scale that it needs.

I bet there's no need to "impose" higher standards on schools that have to compete for students!

Well, like it or not, the Federal Government is already in control of education, and I doubt that it's leaving anytime soon. States receive huge amounts of money from the Fed Govt, and yet they continue to crank out kids who can't even do simple math.

No, it's not in control. And the amounts of federal education dollars delivered to states and districts have been diminishing even as BushCo has thrown more money at the federal level. Perkins grants (STW): virtually dead. And this year, we kill the Eisenhower.

Naturally, there are myriad other programs still awaiting the legislative ax. But we are patient. One program at a time...

As a side note, it can be observed that Bush's failed nationalization objectives have actually been used by education activists to attack their states' standards programs as irrelevant. In the resulting confusion, both state and national standards efforts can be legislatively defunded and thereby defeated. This is the short-term objective.

Bush has also put considerable effort into trying to get voucher programs passed. I think this is where conservative efforts should go.

Actually, this is a myth. He has not done this. It might receive more attention in his second term. At present, this is mostly a talking point for the consumption of the gullible, not a serious WH policy objective. You can see much more forceful action in, for instance, the Colorado legislature's efforts. And there are others too.