HessForGovernor Education Position Paper

Education

The true success of a nation can be measured by the effectiveness of its' educational system. Ours is not working. What was once the greatest educational system the world has ever known has been in severe decline since the mid-sixties, when we finally lost local control of our schools.

The Liberals and the Republicans both claim it's all about money, but you need only look to the example of Kansas City where the most expensive system in history (over 2 BILLION dollars), recently had its accreditation revoked because of the low performance of its students. It’s not the money.

Take Washington, DC. This Federal district is under the total control of your Congressional Legislature. If these people are so adept at telling you how your children should be educated in your hometown, shouldn’t we demand they show us results in “their” hometown?

Washington, DC has the highest expenditures per student in the nation (over $10,000.00/per student/per year) why then do the students earn the lowest results possible? It’s NOT the money.

We need to put parents back in charge of their children, and to allow them a real childhood—not day care. Local control of our schools has already proven to produce the highest results. Competition generates enthusiasm. Enthusiasm generates excellence.

I am proposing to offer an optional Federal Certificate of Competence, in addition to the schools’ diploma. Such a certification would remain completely voluntary; it just might provide the extra weight to put your son or daughter into the college of his or her choice. But at no time could anyone require it be taken for any reason. That must remain an untouchable absolute.

The standard should be set against all developed nations of the world. And the test designers must be 2 from every state, each with an equal vote as to content and policy. When we ask our children to deliver, they will. Positive expectations lead to positive results.

Privatization of all schools by the local communities, without constraint is the path to excellence. I fully support a complete and absolute separation of school and State.

When my Grandmother fell, I was asked to teach her 3rd grade class (I was in 5th grade), and again as a Law student I taught, (as a substitute)—what a thrill! I come from a family of teachers, and I firmly believe in incentives for great teachers who produce great results.

We cannot afford to tolerate incompetence. We will promote scholastic competition and achievement, and by doing so diminish the gravitation toward gangs. We will promote the message that gangs are the dwelling place of the ignorant. The losers’ paradise.

If our nation is to be preserved we must bring back the parents—let mom go home. Women have always been the backbone of America. For forty years the Federal Government has inserted itself into the educational system in this country, and for forty years we have seen more and more money go into the program and for forty years we have seen a dramatic decline in the quality of education. Anybody see the correlation?

At the same time, parents who care enough about the education of their children have made the sacrifices to homeschool. The results? Home schooled children have excelled. Not just a little, but in tremendous strides. The obvious is the obvious; the Federal government has proven itself to be unable to educate our children.

The states and communities must be given free and completely independent rein in educating our young. Indeed, in such a competitive atmosphere parents may even prefer to move to another state or community if theirs doesn’t keep up. The result can only be a greatly enhanced education for the future of America.

If we are to reconsider allowing the Federal Government into our school system, I believe we would have to require of them to “show us results”. By that I mean there is no question that the Federal Government has jurisdiction and responsibility for the D.C. Federal District schools. When the Government can produce superior quality education in the District, then and only then should we consider following their model to influence our State or community schools.

If we are to seriously overhaul our educational system, it is imperative that we minimize drugs in school—Ridalin for instance. The greatest drug problems we have in our schools are not “street drugs”, but prescription “medication”. We have to immediately take away the incentive for schools to increase the use of these psychotropic chemical lobotomies just to get more funding for “disabled” children. And we have to completely remove the “kickback” incentives for “Doctors” who prescribe them.

There is no question that our young are every bit as capable as any on this Earth, if we will only let them learn.

Education

Public schools are supposed to provide a good education for our children. More often than not, they don't. Each year public schools graduate more and more students who are unable to read, write, or do basic arithmetic. Our children's talents are wasted because we continue to trust politicians to do this important job. Politicians have had decades to fix these problems, and they haven't been able to do so.

In recent years, government involvement in education has grown rapidly. At the same time, the quality of the education offered to most public school students has gone down. We are finding, as with so many other government efforts, that throwing more money or more regulations at this problem does not fix it. The best way to end the crisis in education is to deal with the main cause -- government involvement.

The politicians who run the public schools have created new regulations and mandated new programs. These are imposed on local schools. We have more bureaucracy and less innovation. We have more red tape and less creativity. More resources are spent on these matters. The cost of education goes up. The quality of education goes down.

Many public schools have become dangerous places for our children. The news is filled with reports of drug use, rapes, assaults, and murders in our schools. It's difficult to expect a child to learn in a place where the child does not feel safe. Yet most families have no choice but to send their children to the local public school, no matter how dangerous.

It's no surprise that poor children suffer the most under the current system. Wealthy parents can afford to send their children to better or safer schools. Poor parents have no choice. Their children generally end up in the schools with the worst problems. These children end up at a public school, which is obligated to accept every local student, even those who are not interested in learning or who have a reputation for being disruptive or dangerous. The current system traps poor children in poor schools. This is just one reason that many parents have given up hope that their children will escape the poverty they have known.

To solve a crisis, you must recognize and eliminate its cause. The crisis in education is no different. The most important step is to end government control of education. We must move toward a system where parents have good, safe, affordable choices for educating their children.

To transfer control of education from bureaucrats to parents and teachers and encourage alternatives to the public school monopoly, the Libertarian Party would:

· Support a true market in education -- one in which parents and students would not be stuck with a bad local school, because they could choose another.

· Implement measures such as tax credits so that parents will have the financial ability to choose among schools.

· Provide financial incentives for businesses to help fund schools and for individuals to support students other than their own children.

Eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, which spends billions on education and educates no one. The growth of this agency and its numerous regulations is a major reason for runaway costs in American schools.