Posted on 02/17/2005 9:50:05 PM PST by libertarianben
It should surprise no one that Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to pay California teachers bashed on job performance. He has firsthand experience with merit pay, having earned millions for muscular box office appeal in his former career.
(Excerpt) Read more at cato.org ...
We need to get the federal government out of education. Is what I meant to say.
We need to kill the teachers union. They've absolutely ruined the education system in this country. They spend millions to make sure they won't be held accountable. They've spent the last 30 years brainwashing and dumbing down our kids. If we don't stop them now they'll win and rule the whole country.
As long as the government runs the schools it won't matter. Doesn't it scare anyone to know that the government teaches the kids what they think they need to know? How can you fight the government when all you know is what you are taught from them?
I hope the author meant based on here.
Otherwise, it would seem Ah-nuld was wanting to pay teachers whose performance was found lacking, and that just wouldn't solve a damnable thing.
That's a real stretch for an analogy! LOL
Right on the nail.
used to be the kids were tested - and those results told whether or not a teacher was effective. If not, they could be let go.
In New Eng. a few years ago, they tested teachers in the fields they were teaching and something like 60% failed!
1. The federal government got into education in the first place because some local governments weren't doing a good job. Of course, some still aren't.
2. The government doesn't have a monopoly. Where the market will support it, there are private schools. Not everyone can or will pay to educate their children. It was ever thus, which is the reason we have public schools to begin with.
3. If you pair merit pay and school choice, the good teachers and the good students will end up at one set of schools, and the poor teachers and the children with parents who don't care or who can't afford to transport them will end up at another set of schools - in other words, the same problem we have now, writ larger.
That being said, as a teacher I'd love to see merit pay implemented. :-)
"1. The federal government got into education in the first place because some local governments weren't doing a good job. Of course, some still aren't."
I don't know how you can say "some still aren't", I don't see any evidence that any of our school systems have gotten better in the last thirty years. The teachers union has made it safe for the socialists to deny students their free speech rights, and have enabled them to teach a revised history to our youth. Even in math and science classes our kids are being bombarded with leftist crap instead of being taught subject matter. The American way of life is in danger because of the radical teachers unions and their anti-American and anti-student behaviors.
Schools tend to reflect their communities.
Some public schools are quite conservative (including the one where I teach) and some are very liberal.
In some areas, the unions have a huge influence; in some they are virtually non-existant.
Some public schools provide an excellent education, and some don't really provide an education in any sense of the word.
As with housing, it's all LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
I want all government out of education or at least to opt out of public schools.
I don't think I said that. I said schools tend to reflect their community.
How many people can afford private schools? Not too many. You pay for the schools if you want to or not.
I can't afford them. I don't think private schools or homeschooling are options for most Americans.
I don't want the government deciding what a child needs to know.
So far as I know, it doesn't. The states do.
Why don't we treat K-12 like we doing higher ed? Just a question.
I'm not sure if I understand what you mean.
I was talking about all government: federal, state and local. One of the reasons people can't afford private schools, is because too many taxes are taken out of people's checks. There is no real choice for many people other than government schools. You can choose the college you want to go to but you can't choose the K-12 schools you will go to.
Well, no matter what school you send your children to, someone is going to decide what they ought to learn. At least at the state & local level, there's the opportunity for citizen input. Your only alternative really is homeschooling, unless you can afford an "issue based" private school.
One of the reasons people can't afford private schools, is because too many taxes are taken out of people's checks. There is no real choice for many people other than government schools.
Of course, the reason public schools were started is that we saw the need for an educated citizenry and so few people could or would pay to educate their children.
You can choose the college you want to go to but you can't choose the K-12 schools you will go to.
In our area, even if you were allowed to choose, there isn't a big variety within a reasonable driving distance. I suppose in big metropolitan areas there might be.
Why not have tuition tax credits that allow parents to pay for private school tuition with the money that they would otherwise pay in taxes? That would an effective way to create a competitive education marketplace.
The U.S. Constitution does not give Congress authority to collect taxes for, fund, or operate schools. According to the Tenth Amendment, education should be entirely a state and local matter. Nonetheless, the federal government has steadily eroded state and local autonomy in this area over the past 50 years, so that it now takes an active role in almost every issue related to education. Federal guidelines regulate, among other things, student discipline, the content of sex education courses, and the gender of textbook authors. Most of the U.S. Department of Education's programs are not the legitimate affair of the federal government-no matter how brilliant or experienced they may be, politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. cannot solve problems and improve learning in classrooms thousands of miles away.
I'm not sure I understand what you want here...would this be a set amount per student no matter how much taxes a parent paid, or would parents get a rebate of property or income taxes up to a certain amount per minor child?
The U.S. Constitution does not give Congress authority to collect taxes for, fund, or operate schools.
The U.S. Constitution does not give Congress authority to do many things they do, IMO, including Medicare and Social Security, which are much more expensive programs.
Nonetheless, the federal government has steadily eroded state and local autonomy in this area over the past 50 years, so that it now takes an active role in almost every issue related to education.
As I say, most of the federal government's role is in response to perceived failures in the local systems.
The federal government has failed has well. Schools need to be in the free market, so if one school is failing you can take your child out of it and into another.
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