Posted on 09/05/2011 6:20:34 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
CNN’s Political Ticker isolates this element of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s reliably conservative responses at Sen. Jim DeMint’s political forum in South Carolina today, making it both a headline and lead paragraph:
Painting herself as a “constitutional conservative” Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann told Sen. Jim DeMint’s forum Monday that if elected president she would look to get rid of the Department of Education, among other things.
“Because the Constitution does not specifically enumerate nor does it give to the federal government the role and duty to superintend over education that historically has been held by the parents and by local communities and by state governments,” she said, responding to a question by DeMint, a popular figure among the tea party movement.
The not-so-subtle implication of PT’s prominent placement of this Bachmann statement is that it’s obviously extreme. You know those crazy “constitutional conservatives”! But is it? Abolishing the Department of Education might sound like an ultra-conservative pipe dream — and anything but advisable in the Information Age, when education is key to global competitiveness — but, perhaps, just perhaps, Bachmann has a point.
In the first place, she’s right about the Constitution. But, in the second, does the federal government actually do a better job of educating our children than would state or local governments? Naturally, questions of right and equity enter in. It is, after all, commonly accepted that children have the right to an equal education (although even that could be debated). But as regards efficacy, it’s pretty clear flexibility and freedom to address the needs of individual children enhances education.
Please don’t interpret this as an endorsement of Bachmann’s view; I’m still forming my opinions on education policy. It is, rather, a defense of the debate. The purpose and prowess of the Ed Department ought to be analyzed. And the agency, no less than any other budget-straining bit of the bureaucracy, ought to be held accountable.
This all brings me back to why I love Bachmann as a presidential candidate (if not necessarily as the GOP nominee or actual president): She says what needs to be said to move the public dialogue in a productive direction. Sometimes, she does that by simply speaking truth. Sometimes, as now, she does it by offering up views that can then be debated, discussed, shaped and molded into a more palatable — yet-ever-so-slightly-more-conservative — position in the immediate term — while leaving the possibility of her so-called “extreme” solutions open in the long term.
Now the school has additions built on to almost everyside, it looks terrible, it has twice the staff w/half the smarts A N D the same amount of students!!
And our property tax has an extra zero on the end!
They really do think that without the federal government, all that anyone will be prepared to do for a living is shovel filth with their hands.
She is stroking my heart-strings with that talk, however it will never happen. In fact, can a president even do that without congress?
add HUD to the list
I would like to see some objective statistics also. All I see is that in our City (NY State) is now a strange dance between the union, the pathetic school board, the state, and the Feds. They spend $23,000 per student/year, yet 50% of the kids fail to graduate. There is a constant search for money from Washington, and at the same time, a constant griping about bureaucracy from Washington. The union battles for every single outsized benefit. There is no responsibility anywhere. The fact they are "in education" seems secondary to everyone.
Add Agriculture ... they only need 50 agents to assist the states on cross state operations. Anything else is a function of Commerce.
Also add Transportation. All the functions can be performed by less than 100 employees in Commerce.
Once you get started, the list of government agencies to abolish is nearly infinite.
Good for her, let’s open this can of worms. Another corrupt bureau that wouldn’t be missed.
Pray for America
She is correct, but that is just a stating place. I do not think the constitution has anything about the department of groping either.
Please..can someone tell the airhead that we aren’t even going to have a country soon?
RUN SARAH RUN!!
Maybe Perry will make her the head of the Dept of Ed?
“Please don’t interpret this as an endorsement of Bachmann’s view...”
Good Lord, why not?
She is right. As was Reagan.
It was not there until I was in high school. Are school’s better today than 40+ years ago. Hell no. If we can’t get rid of misguided and failed klunkers like the DOE now, we never will.
(Interesting local side note: Another fine Republican from Michele’s hometown (Stillwater,MN) who held the same state senate seat as her a decade or so prior also spent a year working for Reagan (under Sec. Bell) trying to reduce the federal role in education.)
There you go, trying to dismantle Mrs. Pelosi's "great public sector", just as she feared!
As I recall, George Bush wanted to be remembered as “the education President” or something like that. We don’t need a Department of Education but even the GOP, as currently constituted, will not touch it.
“...does the federal government actually do a better job of educating our children than would state or local governments?”
Considering Little Stevie Dunham appointed a pedophile-—Kevin Jennings of “Fisting Indoctrination” infamy to be School Czar, I would say NO.
(the fact that he is no longer there is of no importance-—Little Stevie Dunham APPOINTED him in the first place.)
We are in the computer age... stop the brick and mortar approach. Give every student a computer. Use the best teachers in Webinars... fire the rest. Require school attendance 2 days a week for social interaction and eliminate the need to build more schools. Cut school taxes about 80% !
Prior to the establishment of the Dept. of ill-Education, say back in the 40s 50s and 60s, when you graduated high school, you actually knew stuff. Like where England was located on world map, or how many branches of government there are in the U.S. Or who did we fight in WWII. Ask the typical HS student those questions now. You’ll get a blank stare.
We’ll need a filibuster proof Senate of 60 conservative Republicans and a Michelle Bachman in the White House for anything of this nature to occur.
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