The Education of "America's Precious Children"

Do you think the Race to the Top Fund is a good idea or is it the Federal Government overstepping its grounds? Explain.

The Race to the Top Fund is a good idea because it gives states' motivation to keep their educational systems up to an acceptable standard. This fund encourages states to promote good teachers and leadership in poor schools. The Race to the Top Fund also encourages states to raise the quality of their assessments. It also improves the educational agenda of the lowest-achieving schools.

The Race to the Top Fund is not overstepping the Federal government's grounds. Schools need to realize the importance of education in our country. If a school has a weak curriculum and instruction, then the rest of country is affected by that school's poor performance. The Race to the Top Fund is a nice incentive to create competitiveness among schools and encourage a stronger educational system in the United States.

In your opinion, should education be nationally or locally directed? Explain.

Education should be nationally directed. The United States, as a whole, should have an equal, as well as exemplary, standard of education. If education is locally directed, the level of education would vary from state to state. I think America is falling low on the list of the top most educated countries in the world because of the inconsistency in the educational system. Education on the national level will help the United States stay in the educational race with other countries. Whether people live in Maryland, Michigan, or Minnesota, they should still have the same level of performance. All of America needs to have the same quality of education, whether it is in public or private schools. If America doesn't focus on its education, it can forget about having any influence in the world.

Should we have a national Department of Education? Explain.

Yes, we should have a national Department of Education.

Unlike the systems of most other countries,education in the United States is diffused. Currently, the federal government and Department of Education are not heavily involved in determining curricula or educational standards (with the recent exception of the No Child Left Behind Act). This regulation has been left to state and local school districts.The quality of educational institutions is checked by a inspection known as accreditation, however this process hasn't been effective.

Rather, the primary function of the Department of Education is to formulate federal funding programs involving education and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights.

Although the Department of Education enforces certain laws, I think it needs to establish and monitor educational standards in the states.

Address the weaknesses in the argument in the article you read.

In 1979, upgrading Education to cabinet level status was controversial and opposed by many in the Republican Party, who saw the department as an unconstitutional, unnecessary federal bureaucratic intrusion into local affairs. Similarly in this article, a conservative makes a weak argument about abolishing the Department of Education.

In the article, the author states that the Federal government is "brainwashing America's children." I think that this statement makes this lady sound very unprofessional and unconvincing. One of the main weaknesses in this article is that the author's argument completely lacks substance and support. The author states that the Department of Education is unconstitutional, but doesn't provide an effective grounds as to why. The author refers to Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution to attempt to prove her point. However, after reading Section 8, I found that it doesn't state anything the author mentioned.

The author believes that the Department of Education is educating America's precious children to be the "New Communist Man." This is way far-fetched. I don' think we have to worry about the Federal government preaching "social engineering and communitarian indoctrination."

The author also mentions that "public schools must return to educating children with the basics." I disagree. Education should not be average. Children should not be learning the basics but should be challenging themselves to learn more.