[JohnHuang2]

Friday, February 20, 2004

Quote of the Day by Made In The USA

[George W. Bush]

It is not merely the NEA that opposes nationalization of education.

It was dubious when first proposed by Bush 41 (Goals 2000) and then defeated by conservatives during the Xlinton regime. WND has declined in its reporting from recent years when they championed the defeat of Xlinton's nationalized testing scheme.

Certainly, there is opposition to federal testing from the NEA but, more importantly, from state legislators and conservative education activists who have fought against these testing schemes for many years.

I applauded Utah's refusal. I can see no reason why they (or the rest of us who already do well) should adopt the lower federal standards.

In other words, we don't aspire to the low standards of the Texas education system. We've done far better than that for decades, some of us without any substantial testing system in place. There's no reason to believe that Bush knows anything substantial about education policy and Rove's work on Bush's behalf to eject the conservatives from the Texas board of education is not forgotten.

For a few of us, this flap is politically convenient. We live in states that have only recently bought into statewide testing. So we can pit the state's attempts to control the schools against the feds and frustrate both efforts simultaneously via our own legislatures. Coming as it does at a time when state money is tight, it's easy to encourage the states to stall the whole thing so that state testing continues to fail and gain confidence and so that the federal testing gains no ground.

This is playing both ends against the middle. And it can work in many states.

If Bush wants to control our schools, he can show up with a check and buy them. And then he can pay all the salaries. But he ain't gonna buy them and control them for a few thousandths of a penny on the dollar that is spent on them by the states and local tax districts.

Cash please, Mr. Bush.

[Maelstrom]

First, don't forget Ted Kennedy's involvement with the law.

Second, many schools are going to do poorly due to the re-integration of learning-disabled children.

These two things combined are going to operate to have this law reformed very quickly

[ovrtaxt]

One of Brimelow's 24-Point, thoughtful recommendations is to use antitrust law to bust the "Teacher Trust" (monopoly). There's poetic justice to this. Since the "Teacher Trust" is a "creature of legal privilege" – and a form of legalized thuggery – laws against a conspiracy to monopolize trade or commerce should indeed be brought to bear on the union. Giving teeth to anti-strike laws and passing more right-to-work legislation are also good ways to smash this guild of goons.

Now that's aggressive. I would love to see such an offensive mounted, going for the throat of these parasites and control freaks. Any bets on whether our big bad Republican politicians will ever do it?

[Biblebelter]

I have a difficult time when someone talks about teachers unions. Teacher unions do not seem to be a unique entity. When teacher unions enter any public discussion they reveal themselves as who they are. They are the hardest core, most extreme and radical base of the Democratic Party. With their actions the teacher unions reveal themselves, and then their agenda can truly be seen and it has little to do with education. Their agenda is purely political and social, and their means is not instruction but socialization.

[bassmaner]

Good article - bump for later.