re: Each state determines the qualifications of teachers, principals, etc. - not the federal government.
Once you take the money, you have to dance to the feds tune.
One of these statements is true. One of these statements is not. OK, class, can anyone tell me why these statements don’t go together?
_______________________
Actually, both are true. Each state does determine the curriculum and standards for their state - however, the federal government does have an influence on what happens in the classrooms - if the state take the feds money. Unfortunately, most states do receive federal money in some form.
The federal influence in public schools has to do with mandates, such as in No Child Left Behind, each school district is supposed to show improvement in several groupings of students - by race, economic status, disabilities, etc. To document this “improvement” states must mandate testing of all these groups. If states refuse to do the testing, they don’t get the money.
If the states take the money, the schools must spend classroom time on preparing their students to take these tests. So, my point is that while the federal government does not directly say what a state’s standards or curriculum will be - they indirectly influence how time is spent in the classroom on getting the kids ready for these “tests”. This is what I mean by the state’s having to “dance to the feds tune”.
However, even though the feds have influence - the local states and county school boards still have much more direct influence on what is taught and how subjects are taught in their state and local counties. The federal stuff is just one more burden thrown upon classroom teachers. This also contributes greatly to the amount of time teachers must spend filling out government paperwork.
So, the best strategy is to elect more and more conservatives to all state, local, and national positions. To get more and more conservatives involved in education and in the elementary, jr. high, high school, and college level. The department of education needs to be abolished. It serves no purpose other than to provide more obstacles for teachers to do their jobs
Wintertime’s suggestion for conservatives to pool funding to provide scholarships for students to attend conservative schools is not a bad idea, but it will not replace the public schools as a whole.
Home schooling can pick up a lot of the slack and completely avoid the indoctrination factor.