Homeschool World Forum

[bippycorn]

First time i heard congressman ron paul talk about getting rid of the department of education was about a year ago and he described it as one big beaurocracy that was so inefficient and wasteful .
What are all of your opinions on this folks? Keep it or get rid of it?
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[Theodore]

While I do think it would be nice to burn the system to the ground and start over fresh, there are endless numbers of schools out there that would need to be transitioned, and that amount of paperwork requires at least a small measure of bureacracy. I'd advocate a more practical approach - switch to a school vouchers system, give financial incentives for small schools vs big schools (diminishing returns over a certain numbers of students per school), and steadily cut funding to the Dept. of Education until it's cut back to a more reasonable level. There would be a few years of messy transition, but the results would be worth it in the end.
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The Farming Game - Software Edition for Mac and PC
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

[Lorelei Sieja]

The first time I heard him talk about abolishing the department of education, I was stunned. Until I learned that this is a fairly NEW department. It's only been around since about 1950, and our schools have gone steadily DOWNHILL. Right now, I'm in a position that I have to deal with the Department of Human Services - my daughter was getting food stamps, cash assistance, and help with day care costs, because her baby's father is an idiot. Since I am her babysitter, I had to apply for a license, get approved, and fill out weekly paper trails to get my meager $99 / week (the maxiumum they will pay to take care of a toddler for 45 hours - which day care centers charge about triple that). It is a TON of paper work. Every week, THEY mess something up. It's all computerized, yet they do somethign wrong. They enter my information in wrong. They send the wrong amount. They misfile something, and I don't get paid at all. I feel like I'm a beggar, callign them and nagging them to get the pennies they owe me. And I have a college degree! The whole program may MEAN well, but it is terribly run. There are good people who work in social services, but as soon as the government gets involved, then nothing works the way it should.

THe government has NO BUSINESS runnign a charity program. Or a tax incentive program. Or a job training program. Or a health insurance program. or an educational system. Government exists for two reasons only. To make and enforce laws, and to protect us from outside forces. Period. As soon as our government tries to do more than that, it becomes too powerful and strips away our freedoms.

It is up to the churches to distribute alms for the poor. And when the churches do it, they do a much better job of it!

There is a non-denominational charity program in my city. All the churches can help. I drove a neighbor there to register. She is older, recently single, and penniless. With no questions asked, this church group got her furniture for her apartment, and DELIVERED it (used furniture) in ONE DAY. My word! DHS couldn't even answer a telephone call that fast!

Get government OUT of our schools, and put control of the education back in the hands of the people, where it belongs.

Also - make teachers accountable. In any other job, if you suck at what you do, you get fired. Why should teachers be any different? They have the most important job in the world! They shape the future when they dare to teach a child. Only the best people should be teaching.

My opinion, and I'm sticking to it! <G>

Lorelei
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Lorelei Sieja
www.raisingcreativechildren.com
Nurturing Creative Young Minds and Wiggly Bodies

[Jill]

I am definately in favor of abolishing the national Department of Education. I think any regulation concerning education should be done by the states. (Check out the Constitution for my reason.)
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Jill
http://www.homeschool-by-design.com
Where love and learning go hand in hand.

[Ophelia]

Wow Lorelei. It's like you went rummaging around in my head and typed up my thoughts for me. I agree with every word you said.
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Dawn

Mother of Fionn (5-7-01), Bailey (9-12-02) and Owen (8-7-07)

[revolutionary]

As offensive as this may sound, the truth is that public school teachers come from the very bottom of the academic ladder. Academics who are smart, talented, or connected land better paying jobs that are more rewarding and less stressful. What the public school system is left with are those at the bottom of the academic barrel.

And from the perspective of someone who has friends who are teachers, you can definitely tell the good ones because they jump ship quickly. The rest tend to be the kind of people who aren't exactly the best role models for children.

[Theodore]

Teachers in private schools actually get paid less on average than those in public schools, but they don't have to deal with 40+ students per class, and they have a lot more control over what they can teach and how. Makes for a much happier and better-controlled environment (not that private schools are necessarily perfect either, mind you).
_________________
The Farming Game - Software Edition for Mac and PC
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

[Thom01]

[avaviney]

Glad to be here.
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