McCain on education choice
Senator John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention contained these words regarding education:
Equal access to public education has been gained, but what is the value of access to a failing school?I'd add taxpayers and voters in that list of who schools need to answer to. I'm disappointed that he didn't mention homeschooling as an option but he didn't exclude it either unlike the Obama endorsing National Education Association who would like to kill the option altogether.We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice.
Let’s remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.
When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parent — when it fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them.
Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have the choice, and their children will have that opportunity.
Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucrats. I want schools to answer to parents and students.
And when I’m president, they will.
4 comments:
Education reform is always given lip service during elections. But why is it the more that is spent on public education, the more it fails? I think the greatest problem the democratic party has is the entrenchment of the teachers union in its ranks. As for the Republicans, they too do not really address the issue. There merit based system does nothing to foster the success of our children. Parents need to take back there children and teach them that they can educate themselves their entire lifetime. Register to Vote! http://www.boppoll.com
Why the more spent the more failure? Because it gets further from the actual consumer who ought to have the opportunity to legitimately hold it accountable.
"When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parent — when it fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them."
I thought this only implied something without really saying anything. If the parents really have choice, why do they first have to wait on the public school to fail? It sounds like that is still the default option. Even NCLB takes so many consecutive years of failure to the same "people group" that it is not much of an accountability in terms of your child.
Good point, Eric. It should be choice from the get go.
Post a Comment