"We The People" Legislation

JULY 2010

Education Solutions

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
-Albert Einstein

"Never throw good money after bad."
-Las Vegas professional gambler

Washington for decades has had a penchant for "fixing what is not broken!" On numerous occasions I have said that, "if given the opportunity to have a little one room school house my students in one year would be a full grade level ahead of other same grade students." I stick by that. The reasons for our failed education system are many which we will discuss. The time is now for  "GETTING BACK TO BASICS." For years I have been speaking with both teachers and students, as well as, being a mother thus, the following solutions and opinions. There are those who will be critical and continue to be a "part of the problem" for obvious selfish reasons and those who will decide on joining us in a conversation of doable solutions for enabling our American Education System to be THE BEST in the world.

                  Before we begin, first and foremost it is very unfair to keep putting the entire blame for our failed education system on our teachers.  Good solid education begins in the home, and parents need to step up to the plate and "get back to basics" as well. Parents should be the true motivaters in their childs life. Students must also step up and take responsibility for their own actions and often the lack thereof.  There are bad apples in all professions and maybe some teachers should find other work but in my most sincerest opinion most of them are good people just wanting to be of service to our children.

1. Dismantle the Department of Education- President Ronald Reagan wanted to abolish the Dept of Education and referred to it as "The Blob." He recognized that "big government bureaucracies" are always the problem not the solution. Being the visionary President Reagan was he knew that the education bureaucracy would only become more bloated over time and hurt our children's level of education. It was not just Democrats who stood in his way Republicans turned out to be an even bigger enemy in ridding us of this monstrosity of red tape bureaucrats. Speaking with our teachers over the years one of their biggest complaints is spending more time on "government paperwork" than on meeting the needs of their students. Both teachers and those on the administrative end (too many on the admin end to be sure) have said that there is "Plenty of money, it is just spent unwisely." For fiscal year 2009 between regular appropriations and more added via the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" the Dept. of Education has a budget of $161.4 BILLION of our tax dollars and our children are learning less! BIG BUREAUCRACY SIMPLY NEVER WORKS! (On a side note, in "The Reagan Diaries" President Reagan complains just as much about republicans as democrats, especially what he called "right wingers.")
2. Repeal No Child Left Behind- NCLB added even more to "The Blob" known as the Dept. of Education. Some may argue that a few parts of it are good. Here again more bureaucratic "red tape." So many teachers and administrators continue to share with us that they spend more time on paperwork than with individual students. Countless students have shared that they are "being tested to death." I have NEVER believed that any student's abilities or brains should be solely judged via tests. (More of this in "back to basics.")
3. Putting Education Back into the hands of the Individual States- Our state legislatures need to be held accountable for this. We need to begin electing state representatives that will work with federal reps to put education back where it really belongs. This can be accomplished, don't let them say otherwise. We can "opt out" if "We the People" have the will to do so. The "numbers crunchers" can figure out the tax dollars involved in regard to how much each state is sending to Washington. This only takes "the political will."
4. Parental Choice- ALL parents should know in advance what types of texts and classroom films will be shown to their children. Parents should have choices for their children's education such as, "charter schools," "opportunity scholarships," "home schooling," and something becoming more popular "virtual learning." My son let me know that doing an on-line degree with The University of Phoenix was more intense than the college he was attending. Before he did the on-line trick his grades were constantly lost along with disruptive students and opinionated teachers. He said he learned more in the first (6) months on-line than in (2) years at the college he was attending. Virtual or on-line learning actually requires more discipline.
5. Teacher Choice- Our teachers deserve choices too! They are on the "front lines" of our education system, they know what our children really need or not. Teachers should have more freedom to develop their own curriculums, (of course within reason.) They should be allowed the choice of being union or non-union. School boards are not always the best judges of our children's needs. And come on already with 70 pounds of books! More books and our children are learning less and ending up with back problems. Again TOO MUCH BUREAUCRACY!! Let teachers decide their contracts. Let our teachers go back to the old fashioned way of grading. Only relying on constant testing and not giving ALL AROUND grading does our children and our teachers a great disservice.
6. Teacher/Student Safety- It is inexcusable that our teachers are allowed to be treated with such disrespect. We are losing great and talented teachers everyday over this one issue. I have personally heard "horror stories" from teachers over the years. When students are allowed to use vulgar language and sass their teachers, in some cases threaten them with bodily harm and there is NO recourse for the teacher, No consequences for a student's behavior, is it any wonder why they are leaving in droves.
   In low income high-crime areas which have high "gang activity" (2) things need to happen. One- If a teacher is willing to teach in these areas they should have a MUCH higher salary. Two- Here is where the federal government can do something good and states (even if they were to take back control of education,) any gang activity interrupting a safe environment for both student and teacher becomes a Federal offense with a Mandatory Jail sentence and no "early release." Also severe state penalties for any student that threatens a teacher or another student, along with a ZERO tolerance policy for bullying! We have good children that come to learn and improve their chances in life; we need to give them a safe environment to learn. STOP WIMPING OUT TO THE SUE HAPPY PARENTS AND ACLU!! Our children are our Country's future and it is OUR TAX PAYER DOLLARS that are paying for education. As a civilized society we should DEMAND this!
7. Merit Based Pay- I learned at the ripe old age of 15 in Las Vegas just how "Big Labor Unions" really worked. While I worked hard others would goof off at the same pay simply because of their seniority. Teachers should be paid based on positive results like any other profession. You might be amazed at how many teachers do not teach for the love and passion of it, but for a long "Paid summer vacation." I have heard this first hand. And many teachers have expressed that they resent "having to belong to a union." Especially when their dues and pension funds are used to push political agendas they do not condone. Our teachers should be able to choose! This has also been a contributing factor to good teachers leaving. In a "free enterprise" system our good teachers WILL be paid well for their invaluable service. The bad apples simply will not be paid well and hopefully leave.
8. End Tenure- In a true "free enterprise society" no one is guaranteed a "lifetime" job position. The individual must continually prove they are worthy.
9. Mentoring-Apprenticeship Programs- This is an idea that would do wonders for our "lower income" areas and schooling as a whole. The members of our business communities especially minority businesses (and that includes we women) should be allowed to set up mentoring and apprenticeship programs with our high schoolers'. Showing them our companies and teaching them the skills required to come into said companies should they choose right out of high school. Many of our young people at the high school level have shared that they don't necessarily want to go to college, at least not right away, and guess what that is okay. Business men and women could "mentor" to our young people by teaching them by example that hard work and effort do pay off. Private enterprise really could do so much. We could send a great message that NO matter where you come from you can have a great life. This would also help in giving our young people something positive to do after school instead of bad outside forces getting to them instead. This would also be especially helpful to single parents who are still at work when their children get out of school.
10. Getting Back to Basics- This is a personal pet peeve of mine. Our children are not being taught the most basic of skills to enter the "real world."
    1. Reading, Good Penmanship, Spelling (sans spell check.) Basic math, (sans calculators.) A company I was in management for years ago would give "on site" basic math tests. Of course if after looking over an application we saw good penmanship and spelling skills. If said applicants could get to the "basic math" part, they usually failed miserably. Sadly these applicants became the butt of many a break room joke. This particular company was a good paying, good benefits job, with plenty of room to move up.
    2. American History and more American History (ACCURATE) and World History. History is doomed to repeat itself! We can learn from the past and history is our greatest teacher and that is in our personal lives as well. NOT 'revisionist' and 'opinionated' history though. Teachers need to keep their opinions and politics outside their classrooms. PATRIOTISM IS COOL! There should also be far more effort concentrated on how government works. Our young people need to learn "critical thinking skills," and history along with "the basics" assist in this.
    3. A second language requirement- Almost every developed nation's populace speaks a second language of some sort. It is one of my own regrets that I do not know another language.
    4. Physical Education- P.E. is not only good for us physically but, also mentally. P.E. also teaches us how to be "team players" in life instead of the "me, me, me" attitude! It also teaches 'competitiveness' which is a necessary skill in the real world. Lack of physical education has also GREATLY contributed to a nation-wide obesity epidemic of our young people.
    5. "Looking for Work", "Career Days" courses- Teach our young people how to properly fill out job applications, interview skills, and appearance. Bring in all types of professions to aide in educating our children for potential careers. Both in management and when we had our store I was amazed at the horrible appearance those seeking employment had. Appearance does count! If you look sloppy you will probably be a sloppy employee!
    6. Trade Skills- We all have a "passion" and maybe we should give our young people more opportunities to explore theirs. What happened to the day when schools offered shop, home-economics, mechanics and the like? These were and should be a requirement for graduation. I have talked with any number of various types of contactors that would be happy to have some apprentices. No matter what, having something to fall back on for work is just good common sense. We actually have a deep void with "skilled American labor," many of these are excellent paying jobs too!
    7. If you fail you fail! We now live in such a "politically correct" society that it is choking us. This mentality is "DUMBING DOWN OUR CHILDREN!" It is blatantly wrong for the young person that strives to be the best they can be to have that negated by those that will get a passing grade no matter what. We wonder why our children are so screwed up and lack the most very basic of skills. What kind of message does this send? It sends the message that everyone else will take care of them, that being a "loser is okay." In the real world a "loser" stays a "loser!"
11. Parental Involvement- Parents need to step up to the plate and stop enabling bad behavior. Parents need to take the time to actually look at the text books their children are studying from. Some may find this offensive but our teachers are not "babysitters." My Dad was my "parent" NOT my best friend! Also my Dad never once complained about the list we received on orientation day for school supplies. Since when is it a teacher or the tax payers job to purchase basic supplies. That goes for yearbooks and uniforms too! When I was growing up we paid for everything! I have heard parents complain about money to buy school supplies and then say how they are "going out to eat." If you can afford to eat out, go to professional sports games, you can afford school supplies and the like.
12. Year Round School- Young people get bored quickly and easily. A (9) weeks on (3) weeks off rotation works out great on any number of levels. A.) Students have better memory retention, in other words they aren't spending a month or more catching up with where they left off, thus better grades. This may also help with ever increasing summertime youth crime. B.) A rotating schedule helps with overcrowding. C.) parents can plan vacations during "off times" of the year. D.) Teachers are also able to stay more focused, less stressed and more refreshed as well.
13. Let our teachers be "creative"- One of the biggest complaints I've heard from our young people is "school is boring." When I was a little girl, (before kindergarten even) my Dad taught us basic math skills using gaming dice and blackjack cards. We also did this with my son. It was fun! Using the grocery store was a fun way as well. I was also blessed with many teachers who would even dress in costume for history lessons and some great science teachers. I wonder if our teachers are actually allowed to enjoy what they do anymore.
14. Adult Education- This is something near and dear to my heart. Everyone deserves a second chance in life. For any number of reasons as young people we can make some bad choices. Once we have experienced the consequences of those bad decisions every opportunity should be given to begin anew. Therefore, we must find more funding for adult high school education and GED programs.

In closing, we must all stop worrying about "political correctness" with this issue. We need to understand that parents and teachers pointing fingers at each other will solve nothing. Both need to join forces in understanding that BIG GOVERNMENT is the common enemy and our children are the victims!

E-mail: jackie@JackieMillerForCongress.com
Office: Jackie Miller For Congress, P.O. Box 2276, Mt. Juliet, TN. 37121-2276  Tel: (615) 969 -1573

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