More Power for Parents is at the Heart of Scott's Education Team Proposals [FL]

St. Petersburg Times ^ | 24 December 2010 | Ron Matus and Jeffrey S. Solochek

[Jacquerie]

That theme echoes throughout the 20 sprawling pages of reform ideas that Gov.-elect Rick Scott's education team unveiled this week.

Parents should get state money to pick their own schools, public or private. Parents should decide what reform model is best to jump-start their school. Parents should be able to remove their child from an underperforming teacher's class.

"The parent is the ultimate accountability," said Patricia Levesque, a close adviser to former Gov. Jeb Bush and a leader of Scott's education transition team. "They know what's best for their child. To substitute someone else's judgment … is wrong."

"We're taking all of the educational instruction out of the hands of educators," she [Pinellas School Board chairperson Carol Cook, a former teacher] continued, "and putting it in the hands of the legislators or parents, with no regard to what educators believe is educationally sound."

[Jacquerie]

"Levesque suggested Scott's education agenda reflects his experience in the business world, where the customer is king. That way of framing issues, though, is likely to put educators on the defensive."

Ya got that right!

Scott and the GOP Legislature intend to wrest control of K-12 from the unions and empower parents, where the power belongs.

[businessprofessor]

I agree. Universities have used teacher evaluations for decades. K-12 should use parent evaluations. Moreover, parent choices in enrollment should be the ultimate market test.

[Martel1971]

Free market only works if it is a two way street. Can teachers refuse service to disruptive students? Can we get rid of students that miss too much class time, or refuse to do class work?

The free market allows businesses to set the attire that is acceptable on their premises. Payment upfront, no refunds, LLC protections, up charges for better service like first row seating, parking fees, penalty for early withdraw, not transferable to another program, subject to change without prior notice.

Of course there will be choice, at first. Then schools will be bought out, merged into Wal-mart style companies. Half a dozen mega corp. schools will set all agendas. They will buy policy, like forcing you to have insurance. They will own the textbook companies, school supply companies, the uniform distributors. This is a great business if you can get in on the ground floor.

There is only one reform needed in education today. Remove the gun from the peoples head. Let them NOT go to school. Refuse any that lack common curtsey, but take all others. Once it is a choice to be there you will see drastic changes in the level performance.

[Jacquerie]

Let them NOT go to school.

Agree, and get rid of the disruptive. High School especially should not be a baby sitting service.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

There is only one reform needed in education today. Remove the gun from the peoples head. Let them NOT go to school. Refuse any that lack common curtsey, but take all others. Once it is a choice to be there you will see drastic changes in the level performance.

I think that is the central issue. Liberals want authority and eschew responsibility. No one should be allowed to get away with that.

As the only adults who are really affected by the education, or lack thereof, of their children, parents are the only adults who are actually responsible for their childrens' education. It is therefore malpractice to assign the authority over their childrens' education to anyone else.

[Wuli]

“Parents should get state money to pick their own schools, public or private. Parents should decide what reform model is best to jump-start their school. Parents should be able to remove their child from an underperforming teacher’s class”

Chris Christie in NJ needs to go visit the Governor of Florida.

Only when tax-payers money for education is not dedicated to the public school monopoly, will either lower property taxes or K-12 school reform start to take place.

[Martel1971]

I would suggest that society as a whole is affected by a child’s lack of education.

However the lack of education we have today has nothing to do with math or science. It’s an understanding of how people need to think and act in order to have a civil society. After that math is the easy part.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I would suggest that society as a whole is affected by a child’s lack of education.

That is true. True, BUT. "Government" is NOT a synonym for "society." In fact, the difference between "government" and "society" is FREEDOM. The two are identical, that is, only in the absence of freedom.

However the lack of education we have today has nothing to do with math or science. It’s an understanding of how people need to think and act in order to have a civil society. After that math is the easy part.

I'm not certain they are quite that separable . . .

[wintertime]

There is only one reform needed in education today. Remove the gun from the peoples head.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The taxpayer would still be under police threat to fund collective indoctrination centers ( misnamed “schools”) teaching values that are utterly and completely religiously abhorrent.

**ALL** collectivist government indoctrination camps ( misnamed “schools”) in this nation are godless in their worldview and teach children to think godlessly.

**ALL** collectivist government indoctrination camps in this nation teach children to be comfortable with collectivism. If government can threaten a neighbor to pay for tuition-free schooling, then why not a thousand other collectivist programs? Is a “duh” needed here?

There is only one possible solution: We must begin the process of completely privatizing K-12 education.

If vouchers, tax credits, and charters can help build the private infrastructure then I support these measures...but...the goal must be complete privatization.

By the way,...Harvard has a 35 BILLION dollar endowment. Universities across this nation have endowments in the BILLIONS and multi-millions. If government had stayed out of the K-12 education business, it is likely that K-12 education would have been equally endowed. It is possible to move to a point where private philanthropy could fund a tuition-free, **conservative**, K-12 education for every child in this nation ( and possibly even the world).

Please remember that **ALL** government collectivist schools in this nation are a First Amendment and freedom of conscience abomination. One reform or many reforms can not fix that. The abuse is intrinsic to all collectivist schemes.

[wintertime]

I would suggest that society as a whole is affected by a child’s lack of education.

Well?...So are children who are fed...yet...we know how well collectivist farms, collectivist transport of farm goods, and collectivist grocery stores worked out.

However the lack of education we have today has nothing to do with math or science. It’s an understanding of how people need to think and act in order to have a civil society.

The culture, religious, and political values that create a civil society can **NEVER** be neutral. In fact, it is utterly impossible to have a religiously, culturally, and politically neutral education. It is axiomatic. Therefore.....

**EVERY** godless, collectivist, government indoctrination camp ( mis-named "school") in this nation is a First Amendment and freedom of conscience abomination! ( The good, the bad, and the ugly!)

After that math is the easy part.

All education is religious, cultural, and political in content and consequences. None of it is neutral (even math). It is either taught through the lens of godless secularist worldview or it is framed within a God-centered worldview. Just ask my eighth grade nun, Sister Margaret Aloysius.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Excellent reply.