Al/Siege on Education

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Atlanta, GA

As far as I'm concerned, the most important issue facing Atlasia today is Education... let's be honest folks, while issues like unemployment, healthcare and the defense of this great Nation of ours are all extremely important and should not be ignored, they pale into insignificance when compared with how our children are educated. How a child is educated effects their future more than anything else... and as the children of today are the politicians, businessmen, workers and citizens of tomorrow, they're future is our future.

And at the moment we are failing our children and endangering their future, our future.

So then... what does the Al/Siege ticket propose on education?

1. Increased funding

Like it or not, we need to increase the amount of money Education if the current situation is to change... I understand that some people might think that increasing funding for education is just pouring money down an open manhole, but the cold hard fact is that to improve the education system, it needs more money. Now... exactly how the money should be spent isn't really a matter for the federal government, which brings me onto our second point:

2. Co-operation with the Regions

It is not the job of the highest tier of government to get involved in the fiddly details of education policy, no matter how tempting it might be... our nation and it's needs are too diverse to be micromanaged from the centre.
I'm very impressed by Governer Bell's attempts at educational reform in the Mid East, I think they're the right direction for educational policy at Regional level and if the Al/Siege ticket is elected we will try to convince other Goveners to adopt similer policies.

3. Illiteracy

One thing I think the federal government can do, other than funding, is start a campaign against illiteracy and it's causes, although again we'll have to work closely with the Regional governments for it to be effective.
If the Al/Siege ticket is elected, we'll make sure that existing libraries get more money and also create a fund to set up new libraries in areas with chronic illiteracy.
We might also consider subsidising small independent bookshops, or at least give money to help set up new ones.
Illiteracy is a major problem for this great nation of ours and we're welcome to new ideas on how to tackle it.

[Peter]

I'm very impressed by Governer Bell's attempts at educational reform in the Mid East, I think they're the right direction for educational policy at Regional level and if the Al/Siege ticket is elected we will try to convince other Goveners to adopt similer policies.

Other than by cloning me, how do you intend to go about convincing Governors of this?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Other than by cloning me, how do you intend to go about convincing Governors of this?

By talking to them over a cuppa and explaining the benifits of it (both for the long term economic sucess of their region and for their own electoral prospects).
Most of the Governers seem like reasonable and sane people and I don't think they'd have too many objections to such an idea.
Obviously I wouldn't expect exactly the same policies and initiatives in every region (as I said above, they're too diverse for that) but I think that the general idea of pragmatic education reform can be applied to all regions.

[John Dibble]

1. Increased funding

Like it or not, we need to increase the amount of money Education if the current situation is to change... I understand that some people might think that increasing funding for education is just pouring money down an open manhole, but the cold hard fact is that to improve the education system, it needs more money. Now... exactly how the money should be spent isn't really a matter for the federal government, which brings me onto our second point:

It's NOT a matter of how much - it is a matter of HOW to spend the money. Simply putting money into the current system is indeed throwing it into a manhole. I recognize that any reform needs money to work, but we have to do more than just spend money - we need to spend it carefully, and only on reforms that will do good, not just throw money at the broken system without changing it.

[Siege40]

1. Increased funding

Like it or not, we need to increase the amount of money Education if the current situation is to change... I understand that some people might think that increasing funding for education is just pouring money down an open manhole, but the cold hard fact is that to improve the education system, it needs more money. Now... exactly how the money should be spent isn't really a matter for the federal government, which brings me onto our second point:

It's NOT a matter of how much - it is a matter of HOW to spend the money. Simply putting money into the current system is indeed throwing it into a manhole. I recognize that any reform needs money to work, but we have to do more than just spend money - we need to spend it carefully, and only on reforms that will do good, not just throw money at the broken system without changing it.

I agree with the Justice, more money is required, but wasteful expenses must be curtailed. Honestly, who buys $23 chalk?

Siege

[Jake]

Isn't the real life US litteracy rate 99% just like the rest of the developed world?

[Sam Spade]

Isn't the real life US litteracy rate 99% just like the rest of the developed world?

Jake, he's still living in the 1930s.  His comment makes sense taken into that context.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's NOT a matter of how much - it is a matter of HOW to spend the money. Simply putting money into the current system is indeed throwing it into a manhole. I recognize that any reform needs money to work, but we have to do more than just spend money - we need to spend it carefully, and only on reforms that will do good, not just throw money at the broken system without changing it.

I understand those concerns (hey, I have them myself to a certain extent) but as I pointed out in .2, the federal government can't micro-manage it's way outta the problem... it's going to have to come down to the Regions.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Isn't the real life US litteracy rate 99% just like the rest of the developed world?

No.
Of course it depends how you define literacy, but something between a third and a quarter of Atlasians cannot read a newspaper or fill in a form properly.
This is a disgrace (and I blame both liberals and conservatives for not doing anything about it) and needs to end.