Department of Education Gives a Gift to Children

on February 7, 2012 at 8:11 AM

dept of ed seal My bloomers twist into a bundle when I hear threats of shutting down the Department of Education. Wake County, North Carolina, where I live, recently faced a heated school board election where incumbent school board members and their candidate cronies were jockeying to dismantle our education department. There were candidates who served to benefit financially from the dismantling of the school system, and incumbents clearly had a conflict of interest based on their service to boards of private and charter schools. The Tea Party had taken over our local school board.

The breakdown of our school system was symptomatic of Tea Party ideologies that focus on shrinking “big government.” But this issue isn’t just supported by Tea Party candidates. Current GOP candidate Newt Gingrich has been known to say, "You need to dramatically shrink the federal Department of Education, get rid of virtually all of its regulations." The ruse of big government is code to push a conservative agenda that will favor homeschooling with a focus on religious teachings, abolish science teachings, especially related to evolution, and extend tax credits for homeschooling, private schools, and charter schools. Tax credits for private school tuition is yet another break to the rich while dismissing the middle class and impoverished among us. The people supporting these education cuts and changes are emboldened by the religious right who claim that government stands in the way of their beliefs. The irony is that our government actually grants them religious freedom.

Besides, religion and education should not be co-mingling.

The proponents of shutting down the Department of Education want to turn back time, and in my case, that meant bringing back the days segregation. Education opportunities would, in effect, be available only to the privileged (which is veiled as only available to white kids with righteous double talk). Imagine if our country were riddled again with higher rates of illiteracy. Crime would be on the rise, and poverty would smother our cities and rural areas. The achievement gap would grow into a gorge. Education is a ticket to freedom, security, success, and happiness. I believe education is a fundamental right for all children, and the ability for our government (federal, state, and local) to provide it is a gift.

Even if I were to vote selfishly and only care about my own sons, having an uneducated populace would mean my sons would live in a society divided. American business leaders and employers would have no solid base of educated people to draw from to fill jobs, and innovation would halt to a crawl. Talent would be one-dimensional. We would leave an entire class of citizens disenfranchised. Besides, I want my sons to have a secular education that develops their sense of curiosity and wonder, not indoctrinate them into adopting a narrow lens on the world. Society is simply stronger when more people have nourished minds.

Without a Department of Education, where is the accountability?

This post is part of a weekly conversation with our 5 Moms Matter 2012 political bloggers. Read the original question and find links to all their responses here: Should the Department of Education Be Abolished?

Image via Wikimedia

About the author Ilina Ewen

Ilina is the mother of two sons and chronicles her life and musings at Dirt & Noise. She's a marketing consultant and community volunteer who needs to get more sleep.

Filed Under: 2012 election, education, politics, tea party

Comments (36)

LittleFrogsMA

on Feb 7, 2012 at 8:58 AM

Charters schools perform no better (and often worse) than public schools. But they do allow you to control who is in the school in ways that public schools cannot. By limiting class size and total student population, they can force students to apply and use a lottery system to get in. This is a subtle indicator of how important education is to that parent... it is also a subtle indicator of how informed they are.

Then, they can require parents and students to sign behavior contracts. At the charter school I taught at, parents were required to volunteer a specific number of hours every month and document it. Students can be removed from the school if either parent or student violates this contract. This means that if a child has behavior or educational problems the school doesn't want to deal with, they don't have to. No public school has that ability.

They also do not provide transportation. This effectively excludes many children.

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hoticedcoffee

on Feb 7, 2012 at 9:06 AM

I believe education is a fundamental right for all children, and the ability for our government (federal, state, and local) to provide it is a gift.

Yeah, except our government does not have the ability to provide a good education for all our children. They have FAILED. They are not qualified to make decisions regarding how to best educate children. They waste money, they waste time, they waste talent, they waste opportunity. The DOE should be gutted, and the money should be returned to the states. The GOP has my full support in turning back the clock to a time when we didn't waste billions of dollars on a system that's been broken since the minute the Fed took it over. We are currently reaping the full effects of the DOE and Liberal idealism on the American workforce - a full generation of gimme-gimmes who think they deserve a living wage just for occupying space, schooled on mediocrity and 'everybody wins just because they showed up!'.

Education IS a ticket to freedom, security, success, and happiness, but not in a Liberal society, where the only tickets available are for the government gravy train, no experience required.

on Feb 7, 2012 at 9:28 AM

ALL children are now educated thanks to the Federal government and Special Education laws. Before many children would have been denied access to public schools and shunted into institutions. Children with developmental delays (speech, language, gross and fine motor) are now getting services early enough so that in many cases the impact of the child's disability on their education is limited.

And what evidence do you have that our schools are failed?

Nonmember comment from appalledbyyou

on Feb 7, 2012 at 9:51 AM

hoticedcoffee - please do not blame the DOE or the government for what is actually the fault of the parents. Parents are to blame for not teaching their children basic human values. While there are many flaws with the education system in general, they cannot all be laid at the feet of the DOE. I work in higher education and I would like to keep my job thank you. I will not vote for the crazies that want to take this country backward. If you want your children to have to compete to get into elementary schools, be my guest. I'm guessing it won't turn out the way you want it to.

on Feb 7, 2012 at 9:54 AM

You've got to be kidding. Because if you're serious, my guess would be, YOU are evidence of a failed system.

momtolittleg

on Feb 7, 2012 at 9:56 AM

What littlefrogs said! The DOE has done a great job of making sure all kids have equal access to education. How is this a bad thing?

on Feb 7, 2012 at 10:00 AM

I actually don't think our schools have failed. PARENTS are failing their children, but for the vast majority, a good education is available. Some just choose not to take full advantage.

on Feb 7, 2012 at 10:07 AM

Here's a website with a ton of charts, all showing student performance remaining near-static since the 70's:

http://nces.ed.gov

And here you'll find charts showing how much more the status quo is costing us each year: http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/edlite-chart.html

Now....tell me how this isn't a failure?

on Feb 7, 2012 at 10:10 AM

That's true. And how, exactly, will a bloated Department of Education resolve that? It can't. The Fed cannot force anyone - parent or child - to care, perform, or rise above their circumstances. People either will, or they won't - we cannot correct a lack of ability or enthusiasm with a government program.