Santorum: Parents should run schools

[memphis]

The feds have "taken over" accountability in public schools in the last decade? Has it helped? By most measures, no. And at the same time the federal government, state governments, local bureaucracies, and plenty of well-intentioned groups like Bill Gates' and other Chamber of Commerce groups have all gained more power to hold schoolws accountable, parents are left sitting in some office listening to the principal tell them about some rule that somebody made and why he can't do what's best specifically for the kids in that school.

Santorum is absolutely right on this- the feds have no constitutional authority to run public schools.

The. Feds. Don't. Run. Schools. They. Are. Run. By. Local. Districts.

[memphis]

The feds have "taken over" accountability in public schools in the last decade? Has it helped? By most measures, no. And at the same time the federal government, state governments, local bureaucracies, and plenty of well-intentioned groups like Bill Gates' and other Chamber of Commerce groups have all gained more power to hold schoolws accountable, parents are left sitting in some office listening to the principal tell them about some rule that somebody made and why he can't do what's best specifically for the kids in that school.

Santorum is absolutely right on this- the feds have no constitutional authority to run public schools.

The. Feds. Don't. Run. Schools. They. Are. Run. By. Local. Districts.

The.Feds.Mandate.Tests.That.Local.Districts.Are.Held.Captive.To

These tests are lowest common denominator- meaning low expectations, that, if your child is above average, will undermine his/her curriculum. Yet schools must perform well on these federally mandated tests and that has become priority one in most schools. Thus, in all the levels of accountability, the mandates by the federal government are supreme to local/community concerns. It does not have to be that way- states could refuse federal money and federal accountability, but they don't.

Are you aware of No Child Left Behind?

The states set both the curriculum standards and theshold for what constitutes passing the tests that they select. The federal government plays very little role in schools.

[memphis]

Separation of church and state. Look it up, it's in that Constitution you love to talk about.

That's actually a point that can be used in favor of vouchers.  By allowing the decision of the type and quantity of religious content, a child receives in their schooling to be up to the parent through their choice of school, there is no Constitutional bar.  As it is now, the public schools are skewed in favor of the viewpoint that religion is unimportant.

No. The government can't just fund religion and then say it's up to you whether or not to attend. That's not how the first amendment works at all.  And I went to public schools K-12 and nobody there ever said or implied that religion wasn't important. The schools just weren't allowed to indoctrinate.