Exactly why federal govenment should have no role in education.
In addition, stay away from your grandchildren so as not to give the FBI their bonus targets when they corner you...
I have family that works in the education system. The number one differentiator in student performance is parents' interest and involvement in their children(s) education. Far too many parents ignore their kids until they bring home a bad report card, then they come storming in and blame the teachers for not giving little johnny an education. In general, the kids that do well are the ones that have parents that are in regular contact with the school staff. The kids whose parents ignore school work until it is too late? They're the ones with poor attendance records, incomplete work, work not turned in, sleeping in class, poor testing performance, and in general no interest in getting an education. I'd guess it is part of that entitlement mindset - they think someone is just going to hand their nearly illiterate backside a job or something. {snort}
Read to your kids until they are able to read, then read with them. Help them with their homework, demonstrate to them that it is important enough that you are willing to put the time in - they had better too. Yes, I did exactly this and it seems to have worked. ;-)
Here in Louisiana our education budgets are just as limited as elsewhere. Yet before a school board can consolidate schools in the interest of economy, a federal judge has to approve the action to be certain that there is no discrimination against blacks. This is preposterous in the year 2011. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and this government enslavement has been going on ever since.
No where in the U. S. Constitution does the word education appear. Education is a matter of local and state governments. I pray that in my lifetime I will see a governor with the gonads to tell the feds to butt out.
BTW, this micromanagement by the feds only occurs in the South. Go figure.