This is the final installment of our series examining the issues page of Jeff Barnett, the Democrat challenging Rep. Frank Wolf for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. Today’s topic is education:

Centuries of experience have taught Americans the transformative power of education. More educated nations are less prone to poverty, illness, high unemployment, and crime. As Americans, it is in our national interest to have an educated citizenry. That’s why I believe that our national government has an important role to play in improving access to quality education. Our federal government’s policies should reflect our Nation’s abiding commitment to education as an essential part of a vibrant Democracy.

The federal government should not be involved at all, except for DC. The States are perfectly capable of managing their public schools. Some are better, some are worse. But every State’s schools are better than DC’s, so until DC is a model for the nation, I see no reason at all for the federal government to be involved in our children’s education.

Congress should focus on five primary things over the next few years to improve education in America:

Expand Access to Pre-K Programs: Students whose families are unable to pay for pre-school have long been at a disadvantage to their peers who have had a year of school before kindergarten. The Head Start Program fills an important role in addressing this problem, but in recent years the program has been underfunded and served fewer children. We must fully fund Head Start to make sure the all children have access to the crucial early years of education.

The reason those children are at a disadvantage is not because they do not attend preschool, but because their parents do not model the behaviors necessary for success. A study of Arizona schools with and without pre-K and all-day kindergarten showed that, by fifth grade, all differences between those who had attended those programs and those who had not. A study of the impacts of the Head Start program show that the benefits of the program are almost entirely gone by first grade. Head Start does not do what it is meant to do, and more kids in the program will not do anything but waste more money.

Re-engineer the flawed “No Child Left Behind” Act: Teachers and schools must be held accountable for their progress, but we must do so in a way that encourages success, rather than punishes failure. The current system of “No Child Left Behind” causes teachers to “teach to the test,” a process that stifles innovation, rather than promotes it.

Just end “No Child Gets Ahead.” Some things you just cannot fix.

Pay Teachers a Professional Wage: Until we pay teachers the professional wage they deserve, we will not be able to recruit sufficient numbers of the best and the brightest. Few things have as much impact on a child’s progress as the quality of his or her teacher, and we owe our kids the ery [sic] best.

Thank the Teachers Unions. They insist that all teachers be paid based on longevity, not subject matter. Scientists, Engineers, and Mathematicians are in high demand outside of the public school system, and command higher salaries than English, History, and Art teachers. If we continue to pay Math and Science teachers what we pay English and History teachers, we will continue to get what we pay for.

Increase Access to Post-Secondary Education: Higher education opens the door on life’s opportunity, and we must continue to work to make sure that the promise of a college degree is accessible to all Americans, regardless of their background. That’s why I support this year’s college affordability reforms: a change in the Pell Grant levels to cover more of the cost of an education, tax credits for college education, and an elimination of the cumbersome student-loan bureaucracy that took billions of dollars away from educating our kids.

Apparently, Mr. Barnett did not attend any Economics classes. When more money is pumped into a system, the prices go up. Grants and student loans have driven up college costs tremendously, and that, in turn, drives up the call for more grants and loans. What these grants really mean is that those who save for college are screwed, because they do not have a need. But if you spend your money on expensive cars and vacations, so that you have nothing saved for your children’s college education, the government will help you. Punishing prudence and rewarding stupidity are what have put this nation in such a bad place.

Promote Lifelong Education to Enhance Economic Competitiveness: If we are to remain on the forefront of an ever-changing economic climate, we must equip our professional workforce with the tools they need to stay relevant and leading edge. That means a process of continual re-education, and a more robust role for America’s excellent community colleges.

Community colleges are a great thing. I have taken classes at NVCC and TCC, and have known several people who took classes there and then transferred to a four-year state college such as George Mason and Virginia Tech. (My only complaint with community colleges is that NVCC took my dentist’s best technician from us to be a teacher. I miss her.) But they are community colleges, not federal colleges, and there is no need for federal involvement, nor is there any constitutional authority for such involvement.

Comments

The opening paragraph states that the federal government should not be involved in education, then the rest of the points all involve federal programs.

Getting rid of the Dept. of Ed is a longstanding far-right Republican position.

I agree with both, Barnett and the Repubs on this point. The Dept. of Ed must be terminated and control of schools returned to the individual states. It is the Constitutional thing to do.

As for throwing more money at teachers and schools, that is a bankrupt concept that has been disproved over and over again.

The problem is not the teachers or the school facilities, it is that we have larger numbers of minorities, and fatherless children in the schools, and those kids are mostly dumb as stumps.

When you look at the performance of White and Asian, mid and upper class students, both the girls and boys continue to do exceptionally well. The same schools that are labeled as, “failing our youth” continue to produce exceptional White and Asian students.

So, it should be clear to even the dumbest among you, that the schools are not the problem, but the increasing numbers of dumb students is the problem. The answer is eugenics, not “Pre-K” or any other program that tosses more money at those dummies.

The right approach is to develop educational tracks that would channel the morons into some sort of productive citizenship, while saving resources to be used for the really talented students. Stop ignoring race, and lumping blacks and latinoes together with Whites and Asians, when reporting test scores and anyone will see that the schools are NOT the problem, but the increasing numbers of dumb minority students infesting our schools.

My apologies for the confusion. I have corrected the “blockquotes.” Anything with the big quotes to the left is from Mr. Barnett’s issues page. Everything else is mine.

I will disagree with you on the minorities issue. It is not so much “dumb kids,” but dumb parents and dumb peers. When one’s parents do not value education, and one’s peers say you’re “acting White” if you get good grades, one is much less motivated to study. On the other hand, I had one student long ago, a BIG Black kid with a high-top fade. The first day, all the teachers were saying, “I hope I don’t get him in MY homeroom.” Well, I got him, and a nice boy you could never hope to meet. I told him the first day, “You’re big, and you’re Black. You are going to have to work twice as hard to convince these people that you deserve to be here.” (This was a private school.) His response was, “I know. My mama told me the same thing.”

Well, his mama was from Africa — right off the boat. She knew the value of an education, and if he didn’t study, she’d skin him even if he was three times her size. He did study hard, and he did very well, too.

My children’s elementary school is one of the most diverse in Fairfax County, but the majority of the minorities — especially the Blacks — are first-generation immigrants, or their parents are. They have not been assimilated into the culture of failure that has taken over the Black community in the United States. They work hard, they study hard, and they do well accordingly.

The Dept of Education is a vast hole where money disappears and wacky ideas flourish. The DOE has not educated one child in this country yet consumed vast resources.

Ronald Reagan wanted to do away with the DOE and here we are 30 years later. Sad.

Written by dans about 4 years ago.

Agreed

“The mission of the Department of Education is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.”

Failed, abolish it.

Don’t stop there, Dept of Energy :

“The Department of Energy is committed to reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil and developing energy efficient technologies for buildings, homes, transportation, power systems and industry.”

Failed, abolish it..

Written by Lovisa about 4 years ago.

Whatever failings president Carter had, he did try to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Remember the solar panels he put on the White House? They were immediately removed when president Reagan moved in. Then we had Dad Bush who was best buddy with the Saudies —

Carter also gave assistance to homeowners who installed solar panels. I believe a lot of homes could have been heated and cooled with the use of solar power.

Heck, nowadays one isn’t even allowed to put one’s clothes out to be dried by air and sun! Doesn’t look good!

Hey Dan, My parents gave us some old newpapers (kennedy assasination, 9/11 etc) and Reagan’s first inauguration was one of them. New car interest rates were something like 13% – the auto dealer advertisements were depressing.

“It was working fine, but the decision was it was not cost-effective.”

Typical of the Dems, where tax-payer funded projects are concerned, cost effectiveness never enters into the equation..

Written by dans about 4 years ago.

“My parents gave us some old newpapers”

Did one have the Skins with a winning season ?

Written by dans about 4 years ago.

Wind power, cost effective ?

In all the publicity given to the opening of “the world’s largest wind farm” off the Kent coast last week, by far the most important and shocking aspect of this vast project was completely overlooked. Over the coming years we will be giving the wind farm’s Swedish owners a total of £1.2 billion in subsidies. That same sum, invested now in a single nuclear power station, could yield a staggering 13 times more electricity, with much greater reliability.

“What these grants really mean is that those who save for college are screwed, because they do not have a need.”

You got that right. Colleges have already created their own welfare system where those who have saved get to pay the tuition “sticker price” to support those who have not.

Written by Lovisa about 4 years ago.

Cathymac

What did you find “snarky” about the Scientific American article, if I may be so bold as to ask?

Jack

If you read the article, you’ll find that there were tax breaks for solar power installation. Sorta like tax breaks for those who bought Prius or similar automobiles.

Written by Wolverine about 4 years ago.

NPR on its 17 Sept 2010 program “Science Friday” had an interview with a well-respected environmentalist named Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. It seems that he and students at Unity College had found one of the Carter solar panels in storage at the college and asked the White House if they would like to reinstall it as a symbolic gesture in support of solar energy. They appear to have gotten a bit of a hesitant runaround from the White House. When they came to Washington, they had the Carter panel plus an offer from a company called Sungevity to donate an entire solar panel system to the White House at no cost. They were fobbed off onto a couple of low-ranking environmental officials and seem to have gotten a thanks but no thanks. Some are calling this a publicity stunt by McKibben and asking why the White House should be expected to respond to every citizen initiative which comes down the pike. Others are saying that, if the administation supports “green” as they say they do, why the Hell didn’t they respond to this thing with a bit more acumen with regard to expressing support for solar energy.

Written by HFTB about 4 years ago.

Better yet would be a wind turbine on the White House grounds. Then the public could witness for themselves how few days it would actually be spinning, especially in the middle of Summer when the wind blows the least, but demand for electricity is at its peak.

If you consider any tax breaks as stolen money, you’re likely receiving some of it, and taking advantage any way you possibly can, right? Or do you simply write down your gross income on your tax return?

I’m assuming that you do have an income, of course. And if you don’t, you’d be on welfare and get some of the stolen money. And let’s get off this subject since you don’t seem to have the slightest idea what “tax break” means.

I do get some writeoff for charitable contributions. My mortgage interest does not exceed the standard deduction.

A tax break means that one person who does not do what the government wants pays more, and the person who does do what the government wants pays less. That is all. I call it “theft.” What do you call it? “Coersion”?

Written by HFTB about 4 years ago.

Expand Access to Pre-K Programs:

What the left is saying is that the benefit of Pre-K is really based on the belief that if students fall behind, they will never be able to catch up – even at 5 years old. Well, that is a sad statement about public schools in general.

And the reality is that those who have pre-K and get ahead quickly fall back to where they would have been without it. It is a waste of money.

The reason most kids in pre-K do better in school later is that their parents are educated. When both educated parents work, the lower-income worker in the couple generally makes enough that pre-K is an option for child care.

Written by dans about 4 years ago.

My experience with pre-K was positive, not all that expensive, and would definitely do it again. I also believe that what happens in pre-K is also dependent upon the parents. When you see kids in pre-K that can only grunt and play with trucks or dolls, that’s a good sign of uncommitted parents. While pre-K may not be effective for many, not sure if I would throw the baby out with the bathwater..

Written by Eric the 1/2 troll about 4 years ago.

“[There] were tax breaks for solar power installation.”

In other words, he stole the money. Thanks for the clarification.

So a tax break is stolen money? I thought it was their money to begin with. How is it stealing to be returned your own money? Are tax breaks for oil companies and farmers are ok?

One is government coersion, and the other is simply adjusting the rates for everyone.

Written by Wolverine about 4 years ago.

Lovisa, you may have gotten a break. Mrs. W tells me that Virginia has moved to eliminate HOA rules which do not allow people to hang their clothes outside to dry. I haven’t been able to search for details yet, but I would guess that energy saving may be part of the deal. The place where I live will probably soon bring back memories of the “old days” when there was washing on the line in every backyard. Nostalgia.

Written by squiddy about 4 years ago.

“Sorta like tax breaks for those who bought Prius or similar automobiles.”

Anyone else bothered by the special treatment they get on HOV lanes? Seems like half the cars on I-95′s HOV corridor are now single-occupant Priuses. So, we subsidized them buying the cars with tax breaks, and we subsidize their commutes by not making them carpool.