Edward Gonzalez advocates that choice in education should be decided by families and communities.

Problem:  The American public education system is substandard and getting worse every year.  In addition, more money is being funneled into public schools and universities than ever before with a continued drop in quality.  Much like health care, there has been much focus on the problem of education without much emphasis on the cause.  Our federal government has instituted numerous regulations, like No Child Left Behind, which bind parents and teachers to unproductive and failing methods of education.  No Child Left Behind and other programs like it fail because a public school system dominated by the federal government must always provide a one size fits all solution for every individual child in the country.  Each individual child is different, with his or her own unique set of strengths, weaknesses, and needs, so a one size fits all approach to education will always fail.

 There are those that argue that schools are underfunded.  This might be true, but currently the majority of our taxes are sent to Washington DC and distributed by politicians to those whom they deem deserving.  This removes money from communities and puts it in the control of politicians greatly removed from the problems faced by parents and educators.  According to the Department of Education’s website: 

ED currently administers a budget of $62.6 billion in regular FY 2009 discretionary appropriations and $96.8 billion in discretionary funding provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[1] 

 Goal:  An American education system that is the top worldwide system of education in terms of quality and cost.

 Method:  Put the control of education back into the hands of parents and communities.  The specific steps we must take are:  Abolish the Department of Education, abolish all federal laws of mandated education, and end all federal subsidies for public schools.  Allow the States and communities to keep the funding that currently goes to Washington DC and use it in the manner they see fit. 

 Connecticut will probably have a different system of education than Oklahoma and that is fine.  If States wish to continue with the current K-12 programs that is their choice.  Some States may wish to expand educational opportunities to include apprenticeship programs or internet and multimedia distance learning.  For example, if a State legalized apprentice programs starting at the age of 15, a young person might take internet courses a few hours a day and learn a specific trade while working for a company.  At the age of 18 that young person would enter the adult workforce as a skilled worker. 

 Apprentice programs have always provided upward mobility for those willing to work, and combined with the new distance leaning technology of the internet, those children born into poverty should have more educational opportunities than ever before.  John D. Rockefeller was born the son of a peddler.  He graduated public school and went to work as an assistant bookkeeper for 50 cents a day (about $25 a day in 2009 dollars).  At the time of his death he had given over $550,000,000 to charity, more than any American before him had ever possessed.[2] 

 With all the advancements in educational technology, there is no reason why children born into poverty should not have an equal opportunity to become the great business leaders of tomorrow.  In order to do this we must get the federal government out of education and allow the States, communities, and families to decide on their own what forms of education they would like to support.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/index.html

[2] Myth of the Robber Barons by Burton Folsom Jr