Education

This post will attempt to tackle perhaps the next most difficult issue facing our country after healthcare, that of educating our children.

First of all, constitutionally the Federal government has no business interfering in Education, which is clearly the responsibility of the states. However, decades of meddling by the courts and congress have done more harm to this country's education system than any foreign influence could have conceived or carried out.

Beginning with the Supreme Court deciding in the 1960's that suddenly there is this mythological "Separation between church and state" in the constitution, and therefore religious expression is forbidden in public schools, our schools have slid into an abyss of moral bankruptcy and academic mediocrity. The products of secular education apply their non-values to their adult lives, producing neglected children who attend rudderless schools and perpetuate the vicious cycle with their own children.

Ask any teacher their opinion of the number one reason for the failure of public schools, and he or she will tell you without hesitation, "lack of parental involvement". Parents view the schools as babysitters that give them a low-cost place to dump their kids every day. This permanent underclass of low-skilled, undereducated, and unambitious citizens were encouraged through government social programs and the education system to become exactly thus.

My point of view is that debates about public education today fundamentally fail in their inability to recognize the root problems that need to be solved. The debate centers on teachers and testing, as if somehow more money, better teachers, more tests, and more money will solve the problem. It is my contention that no problem can be solved if it is not understood. And we've seen years of programs and initiatives that throw money and tests at schools, yet the problems just get worse.

The solution does not lie with more money, more tests, better school facilities, or new Federal bureaucracies. Instead, I believe we need to rethink our entire approach to education. We have the tools and technology to transform education beyond the tired old agrarian model we continue to be stuck with today. Following are several of my ideas for returning the American education system to a model for the rest of the world:

• Individualized Curricula: Children learn in different ways and at different rates. Where did the idea come from that all 12 year olds should be in the same class together regardless of their ability and aptitude in a particular subject? We have the technology to use testing for placement. For example, let's say there's a student that would be in Grade 6 in today's school; this student excels in language skills but is struggling in math. So the school places this student into a level 7 english, writing, and literature program, but a level 5 math program. The student's age is inconsequential to their placement in each major subject area, but they must complete up to, say level 10 or 11 in each subject area before they can graduate.
• High School Graduation when the student is finished, not when they turn 18: Why do we keep students in high school until they are 18 in all cases? Why not use the individual curricula described above to let students complete their schooling at their own pace, perhaps up to a maximum age of 19? If an exceptional student can complete all of the high school requirements by age 16, why not let her graduate then?
• Partnership with Community Colleges and Area Business: The public schools should partner with local colleges and businesses to provide educational opportunities for their students that help them transition into adulthood. Rather than teaching the college-level Advanced Placement courses in the high school, why not allow students to take those classes in college? Realizing that for social reasons, students will want to stay with their peers in High School until graduation at 18, why not let them get a head start on their college education or their chosen trade during the last year in high school?
• Mentoring Programs: Peer influence is incredibly strong in public schools. Teachers have long observed that classes of students have distinct personalities, based on the attitudes of their unofficial peer leaders. Mentoring programs that pair high-achieving upper-class students with the poorer, rudderless younger students have the potential of breaking the cycle descibed earlier.
• Respect Religion and Religious Speech: I believe we need to fight very hard to restore a level of sanity to policies that have for so long stifled moral and religious expression in the schools. I'm not suggesting that we permit proselytizing or pressuring students in any way into participating in religious activities. However, open access to the schools by area churches and mosques to bring in speakers and teachers for voluntary attendance by students can not only help students to understand perspectives of others' religious beliefs while perhaps reinforcing positive moral messages so lacking from the secular institutions our schools have become.
• Expanded Curricula: There is little argument that music, art, and physical education are important components to a well-rounded education. All of these disciplines must be reinforced in the school curricula and given prominence alongside the other academic subjects. Physical Education should focus on developing lifelong fitness habits by establishing them as a daily required part of each student's schedule. Intramural sports teams for every sport from tennis to football to badminton, running and weightlifting clubs, dance classes, etc. should offer varied experiences for students that permit them to choose those activities they enjoy. Music and art should also be required for every student throughout their school experience, rather than limited to elective or extra-curricular status.

In general, a more flexible program that places students in classes that match their ability level but forces them to complete a minimum set of requirements for every subject will allow every student to work at their own pace while encouraging them to work hard to achieve the requirements to graduate on time. Peer mentoring and community partnerships will help students grow their understanding of the world and their own possibilities and are very likely to help break the tragic hopelessness of a permanent and growing American underclass. And an open policy toward philosophy and religion will help students understand each other and allow them to explore their own feelings about faith and morality without undermining their family's existing faith tradition.

The role of the Federal Government is not to institute and enforce these principles, but rather to encourage the States to do so, provide some financial resources to help them do so, and provide leadership and facilitate sharing of best practices of those school districts who have had success with their implementation of these programs.