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« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2017, 04:56:59 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 1-10-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
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Duncan went on to say that the United States needed to challenge the status quo, and to close the achievement and opportunity gaps. Five years later, the U.S. still lagged behind many other countries.
The findings in the 2015 Program International Student Assessment (PISA), which is an international benchmark for education systems, finds the U.S. education system improved since the last assessment in 2012 in the areas of science, math and reading.
However, that alleged improvement still leaves American students ranked behind the students of 24 other countries, among the 72 participating nations. Teens in Singapore, Japan and Estonia led the more than half a million 15-year-olds in the 2015 assessment, the primary focus of which was science, with math as the primary focus in 2012.
Jimmy Carter signed the federal Department of Education into law in 1979, and since it became active the following year, American education has steadily worsened, as measured by these international assessments. President-Elect Donald Trump, like Ronald Reagan before him, has called for abolishing the Department of Education, citing the need to cut spending.
The Founders established only four cabinet level activities: foreign relations through the State Department; national defense through the Department of War (now Defense); taxation and spending through the Department of the Treasury; and enforcement of federal law through the Attorney General (now the Department of Justice).
The increase of federal agencies has arguably produced some benefits, but does their performance justify the costs incurred? They have produced tremendous growth in government control of our lives, and enormous expense, both direct and indirect. Today there are nearly four times as many cabinet level agencies as the Founders thought necessary.
The federal education effort has many sins on its list, but the primary one is the shifting of control of schools to Washington by dangling federal dollars in front of state school officials — dollars they can earn only in return for relinquishing control over their schools. Federal influences also contribute to the infestation of standardized testing30, which in moderation can provide benefits, but when a typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten classes and 12th grade, that is over the edge. Eighth-graders, it is estimated, spend an average of 25.3 hours on standardized testing.
It’s in this context that Trump named Betsy DeVos31 to become education secretary. Her bio explains32 that in education she “has been a pioneer in fighting to remove barriers, to enact change and to create environments where people have the opportunity to thrive,” and that her political efforts are focused on advancing educational choices. She currently chairs the American Federation for Children.
Like all of Trump’s cabinet selections so far, the Left portrays DeVos as unqualified and criticizes her lack of experience. One particularly unflattering New York Times tome lamented that she has pushed33 to “give families taxpayer money in the form of vouchers to attend private and parochial schools, pressed to expand publicly funded but privately run charter schools, and [tried] to strip teacher unions of their influence.”
Perhaps the contrary is true, however. Given the lackluster performance of the Department of Education when run by supposedly qualified people, someone with other strengths just might be able to turn the department into a positive influence — or at least minimize the damage — on what is broadly considered a mediocre education system.
Schools are best operated by those closest to the students, so returning control to states and localities will be a good first step.
MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST
Making Stuff in America Again34 — Trump takes on American automakers to save jobs and pride.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
Stephen Moore: We Need Tax Reform, Not Tariffs35
Cal Thomas: Russian Hacking and Glass Houses36
Dennis Prager: Disturbing Lessons From the Chicago Beating37
For more, visit Right Opinion38.
OPINION IN BRIEF
Investor’s Business Daily: “Of the seven major industrial nations, what country grew fastest last year? If you said Great Britain, you were dead right. Funny, because just last June after the Brexit vote, many experts were predicting a British collapse. Here’s the reality: ‘Britain ended last year as the strongest of the world’s advanced economies with growth accelerating in the six months after the Brexit vote,’ says The Times of London. Britain’s economics community, not to mention its badly biased, anti-Brexit media, now have egg on their faces. Not only did Britain survive Brexit, it thrived after Brexit. In the first half of the year, preliminary data show economic growth averaged just 1.8%. But that jumped to 2.2% in the second half after Brexit. Moreover, dire prognostications of market disaster and a global meltdown never came to pass. … France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and even Germany, have burgeoning movements to leave the EU. Seeing Britain’s success, it’s only a matter of time before others join them in taking back control of their own countries.”
Read more39.
SHORT CUTS
Insight: “As the circle of knowledge expands, so does the Sphere of darkness that encompasses it.” —Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Upright: “Over the long sweep of history, what matters more? Donald Trump’s immigration policy or the fate of the family? Paul Ryan’s entitlement reforms or the faith of a nation? The fate of the family and the faith of the nation narrow and constrain our politics, limiting our choices to those options that are palatable to an increasingly dependent people. Hollywood is helping redefine our nation’s character. And if the Left keeps winning our culture, the GOP can keep winning our politics and the nation will still lose.” —David French
Dezinformatsiya: “Climate change, disproportionately caused by carbon emissions from America, seems to be behind a severe drought that has led crops to wilt across seven countries in southern Africa. The result is acute malnutrition for 1.3 million children in the region, the United Nations says.” —New York Times' Nicholas Kristof in a piece titled, “As Donald Trump Denies Climate Change, These Kids Die of It”
Non Compos Mentis: “We don’t deserve this planet. There are (many) days when I think it would be better off without us. … How am I supposed to do my job — literally to chronicle planetary suicide — w/o experiencing deep existential despair myself? Impossible. … I don’t have an answer for where to go from here. That’s why I’m in counseling. But part of the answer is: don’t be afraid to talk.” —meteorologist and climate alarmist Eric Holthaus
Refusing to follow Bush’s footsteps: “If [Trump] deports thousands of kids, I don’t know that I can sit on the sidelines.” —Barack Obama, who just can’t stay out of the spotlight
Legacy: “Obama’s tenure as a whole had shortcomings due to some notable missed opportunities and outright failures, such as the economic development of urban centers, gun violence and the foreclosure rate and bank closure rate in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. On these and other issues, we rated the Obama administration ‘Fair’ or ‘Poor.’” —Urban League President Marc H. Morial
And last… “Most gun owners support higher penalties for a gun being used in a crime, which is pretty much the only effective gun control legislation.” —Frank Fleming
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Managing Editor Nate Jackson
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. |
