Department of Education

If they did things they way I would like them to in my dream world - that will never happen - then I would love for them to cut the Department of Education. Then (in my dreams) they would stop spending such a ridiculous amount of money testing our students to death. That would save so much time and money that they wouldn't have to cut the elective classes that were mentioned in a previous post. Teachers (like myself) would have time to teach the skills that really matter rather than being tied to a test. Unfortunately I don't see this happening.

EDIT: If the Federal Government wasn't involved - Title 1 wouldn't be a factor and Appalachia would have as many textbooks as Fairfax....

Of course if you are talking about Appalachia, West Virginia - it's because Robert Byrd spent all the education dollars on roads and buildings with his name on them!!

Original post:

It might help if you include the article you are referring to. Paste it into your so what happened so it doesn't get pulled.

Here's what would happen if the Department of Education was cut:
* we would lose unfunded federal mandates
* we would lose the bureaucracy
* lose main federal co-conspirator with teachers union
* lose requirements for being Politically Correct and actually TEACHING our children
* allowing parents to affect what their children are being taught - especially since CA sucks the education budget to "educate" illegal aliens.

The better question would be what is the down-side of removing the Dept of Education - and really the answer would be NONE!!

I don't believe the government should have their hands in the education system at all. I believe it is the parents' responsibility to see that their children get educated. They can do it themselves or pay someone to do it for them. Period. Why should other people have the burden of paying for someone else's children? It is a socialist idea. It is a system designed to socialize the masses, teach them to behave and think in a certain, well-thought out way, and to then have more control of that next generation, and so forth. Parents have so often checked out of the system altogether because they have been brainwashed that the so-called experts have it covered. Huge mistake. Look at our nation today as compared to in its early days when we had statesmen at age 14 because their parents were teaching them with that purpose. Look at our founding fathers and their educational model. They were all homeschooled or tutored. They had an incredible education. Today's educational system is a joke. As mentioned, kids are taught to the test, which is useless. It isn't real learning. People don't know how to think anymore, they just follow along and do what they are told. Critical thinking is almost non-existant. I don't mean to offend anyone here. Those who are teaching in the schools, I believe you are doing the best you can do with what you are given. Your hands are tied, by and large, and you just have to go with the status quo. But, deep thinking, problem solving (of real issues), is almost unheard of. People are obsessed with fiction and video games. Rome was invaded and overrun while their people demanded their games. We are right there.
How's that? ;)

Cheryl has a great response.

I love Libertarian ideas, cut away........the Dept of Education is a joke. Then again, everything the Government has a hand in, fails & costs way more than it should.

get rid of it. It hasn't improved anything regarding education. In fact, if you look at the before and after the creation of the Dept of Ed. kids were getting a better education before than after. It is just another slush fund for Washington. Its not helping the kids at all!

I get angy when they cut the music or art for students. Sorry, those are important classes to some. Not everyone is an athlete yet that seems to be where the money goes. School districts need to be better stewards of the money that they receive than they are. I would love to see a major overhaul of the who education system.

Get rid of it! Totally useless. One of many reasons why I have chosen to keep my daughter out of school. I agree with the responses below.

In response to the first answer - Learn parenting skills? Prepare a meal? Learn home repair? Car repair? These are things that parents should be modeling to/teaching their children! If the parents don't know how to do any of the above, why not enlist grandparents, neighbors, family friends, aunties and uncles, etc. Come on, let's start helping ourselves, and quit expecting the government to step in and do the job for us.