During the debate on Wednesday night, President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney were asked the question "Does the Federal Government have a responsibility to improve the quality of public education in America?" The candidates, as expected, had very different answers.
Obama stated that the Federal Government has "a significant role to play," and that "This is where budgets matter because budgets reflect choices." He touted the Race to the Top program's questionable record of success as proof that the Federal Government's involvement in education made schools more successful.
Education doesn't always get the focus that it deserves in political discourse, but voters were listening on Wednesday night. In fact, education was the most tweeted topic of the night, topping even jobs and the economy. With education in the spotlight, let's hope that students are the winners in November.
I think we can agree with most of Romney's answers. He was following the Constitution much more than Obama - who only casually considers the Constitution on anything.
With important legislation that affects Pennsylvanians pending during the fall General Assembly session, and the 2012 elections just around the corner, it's vital that the grassroots be united and connected. That's why FreedomWorks and local Tea Party groups are hosting a full day of activist education and grassroots training in the City of Brotherly Love.
The Obama administration has announced it may create a new government department focused on job creation. The new department would be named something along the ilk of the Department of Jobs or Department of Competitiveness. President Obama still thinks he can manage the economy through central planning, simply by creating more bureaucracy to regulate and 'stimulate' economic growth.
Informed, true grass-roots activism is how America will take its first steps toward change, but unions using individuals in Astroturf protests will only maintain the ineffective and harmful status quo. It is no secret that public schools across the nation are producing more and more "drop-out factories". The state as well as the student is harmed. High school dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost the state nearly $8 billion in lost wages over the course of their lives . Pennsylvania is no exception.
Far too many children are trapped in failing schools. Only 21 out of 355 schools in the Pittsburgh region have 90% or more of fifth-graders proficient in both reading and math.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels approved the broadest school choice legislation in America this week, expanding charter schools, instituting merit pay for teachers and restricting the abused power of collective bargaining for teachers. The Associated Press declares that Gov. Daniels' school choice legislation makes Indiana "a showcase of conservative ideas" for other states to model.
This week, a homeless mother in Connecticut is being dragged into court and faces a possible jail sentence for sending her 6yr old son to a school that was not in her district (not that she had a district-she was homeless).
"Waiting for Superman", an "Inconvienient Truth"