Posted on 04/10/2019 4:19:38 AM PDT by Kaslin
Logging on to the website of the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, the first flashing headline that meets the eye attacks Education Secretary Betsy DeVos: "Betsy DeVos and Her No Good, Very Bad Record on Public Education."
What perturbs the NEA is that DeVos sees her mission as education, which is not necessarily only "public education."
Surely, Secretary DeVos' new initiative, the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act, which has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz and in the House by Rep. Bradley Byrne, has the teachers unions on edge.
Education Freedom Scholarships provides dollar-for-dollar federal tax credits to those who voluntarily contribute to state-controlled and administered "Scholarship Granting Organizations" to whom parents can turn for funds to send their child to any school of their choice.
No, this does not expand federal control over education. It just provides a new source of federal funds to support state-administered programs that will help enable parental choice in education.
The proposed $5 billion in financing doesn't even amount to one percent of the $654 billion now being spent annually on K-12 education.
Education freedom is still a relatively new idea. Twenty years ago, platforms enabling parents to choose where to send their child to school were nonexistent.
Today, 482,000 children are participating in some kind of education choice program -- either through vouchers, tax credit scholarships or education savings accounts.
Which is still miniscule given that we have 56.6 million children attending K-12 schools and 50.7 million in public schools.
Why is parental choice so vitally important?
The education choice movement got started on the idea of competition. We know from our marketplace that nothing produces excellence like competition.
So why shouldn't we have it in something so vitally importance as education?
Arguably, it's even more important in education than in other areas. Why?
We know if we have competition in automobiles, we will get the best possible and most diverse production of automobiles for consumers. But nobody disagrees about what an automobile is.
But how about education? What is it? What does a child need to learn?
The Book of Proverbs teaches, "How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is preferable to silver!"
In our secular culture, many argue that wisdom cannot be transmitted in schools. Education should just be geared to acquiring career and professional skills -- getting gold and silver.
But can we have a nation without wisdom and understanding? And should we pretend children can be educated without these? Of course not.
But in our divided and confused country, there's no consensus about what wisdom and understanding are.
To get back to the teachers unions, look at their websites. They are shills for abortion, same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights. They pretend this is wisdom. And this is what is passing for wisdom in the education monopoly called our public school systems.
Why, in our free country, should parents be forced to send their children to be indoctrinated in left-wing culture?
In 24 states plus Washington, D.C., public schools are required by law to provide sex education. What are the children being taught?
So freedom and competition in education is not just about a better product. It's about freedom to determine what the product is.
In a nation where the pillars of marriage and family have broken down, we must allow wisdom and understanding to be again taught. We must allow parents, particularly low-income parents, to send their children to Christian schools.
In a nation where the incidence of out-of-marriage births has quadrupled over the last half-century and the incidence of marriage has dropped 33 percent, we need education that conveys wisdom and understanding to our children.
In a free country, this can only done through education freedom and parental choice.
Three cheers to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
I’m not a fan of public schools either.
But the idea of the federal government funding anyone sending their kids to private school is just sick.
And it is supported, apparently, by the Trump admin and Cruz.
Being denounced by the NEA is kind of like being denounced by Kim Jong-un. A definite honor.
Why waste money on middlemen? If we’re going to do this fairly, the cheapest method is a direct tax credit against tuition. It won’t pass.
ARE YOU KIDDING!
It isn't sick, it's long overdue. The RAT indoctrination centers should all be closed tomorrow and the buildings rented out to somebody that wants to run a school. They "teach" nothing but faggotry, communism and divisive RATaganda nonsense.
Every parent should have school choice, and the money should follow the student.
Education should all be local control, and the teachers and admin hired solely on merit...not tenure.
The school districts should all be investigated and prosecuted for massive corruption and graft. Unions can go pound sand (awaiting investigation)
After all that, the DOE should be evacuated and defunded.
And it is supported, apparently, by the Trump admin and Cruz.
Thank God....Get 'er done.
Well said.
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“... the cheapest method is a direct tax credit against tuition.”
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Tax CREDIT? *SMH* Welfare in everything but name.
You want ‘cheapest’?? How ‘bout getting govt out the education sector, reduce property taxes to ZERO and have those that wish/can donate a/o write the check(s) themselves??
The feds (that is, American taxpayers) should not be funding local schools.
And certainly not the super-premium private schools that would be covered here.
You don’t fix bad policy with bad policy.
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Every parent should have school choice, and the money should follow the student.
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Every parent should be paying for the education of their brood THEMSELVES. IOW: the $$ follows the student. But, that’s not what you’re talking about here...
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Education should all be local control, and the teachers and admin hired solely on merit...not tenure.
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Define ‘local’ control. Even @ the State level, the STATE controls the works == just as ‘good’ as Fedzilla does.
RE: Admin/teachers. Still run into the ‘right-to-work’ issue. Else, private biz. would take care of that in a heart-beat (Hmmmm...employee(s) vs. parent(s) taking their child\$$$ to another education facility).
Investigations/demolish DEA...great wish-list, whole-heartedly agree.
schools need to teach investigative skills and critical thinking.
I get it that the children of destitute Americans should still be educated, but the function doesn’t begin belonging at the federal level. The idea that we should all be taxed more to pay for this —
— is insane.
The only federal involvement should be quashing unions and prosecuting graft.
The remaining “public schools” should be funded by the towns, and every town should have its own.
The funding issues is solved with “tuitional tax credits” applied against property tax with an education receipt. (up to a preset limit)
“I’m not a fan of public schools either.
But the idea of the federal government funding anyone sending their kids to private school is just sick.”
You have a point. But it is less sick than having the federal government fund public schools.
Nothing stops the parents from using this money in a public school, if they can find one they want to send their kids to. You must think that is unlikely, since your post assumes the money will go to private schools.
Rule #1: usage of the word "but" means everything to the left of it is a lie.
Why should I have had to pay twice to send my kids to school? Once to send yours (public education) and the second to send mine to PRIVATE schools because the public schools SUCKED?
Exactly how is caring about my kids education and making damn' sure they received a good one "sick" (using your own word.)
You're nothing but a liar who supports public education and only public education. That's sick.
You don’t fix bad policy with bad policy.
Isn’t this more like fighting fire with fire?
How can any school choice program compete with the public schools without similar tax and funding advantages?
The battle is not federal.
If we’ll twist the government and Constitution for our purposes we really don’t have much argument when they do that for theirs.
Your redistribution is no more noble than their redistribution.
I appreciate private education. I’ve seen quite a few levels of it, some outstanding, some good, some fair, and some awful. In reality, though, that simply provided choices. There are no choices with public ed to any significant degree. You go to the local school or you don’t.
Property taxes and other taxes is how schools are funded in our area which is similar to other states we’ve lived in. So, the issue of paying for school twice is a very real issue. My grandkid’s schools are clearly religious, and I can see someone NOT wanting to fund religious schools of a denomination not their own. On the other hand, the secular schools absolutely do, whether in textbook or via instructor, promote a liberal/progressive philosophy of life as well. Somehow, I’m not supposed to be concerned with that, even though I’m thoroughly convinced it is a religion. (Move right along...there’s nothing to see here...)
Another issue is cost. It is also absolutely clear to me that my kids make a good living and can afford to send the grandkids to a private school. I know for a fact that a lot of families could not afford that.
I believe that an educated population is best for the nation, so I want everyone possible to be as educated as possible up to the point that they can read, write, and do math at a minimum.
So, how do I pay for it? How do I prevent indoctrination into a life philosophy I disagree with? Should I let families decide on their own not to become educated, if that’s what they choose? Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
I’m going to venture out on a limb here for a moment and side with ending taxes for public education and having it available, but each family must pay on their own.
A pig or a cow to the teacher would be nice.
Public schools = Indoctrination Centers. Parents, if you send your kids to public schools, you’re helping the Marxists. If you want to fight liberals, run for school board...
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