Memorial Day traces its origins to 1866 when a knot of women visited a cemetery to lay flowers on the graves of Confederate soldiers. These were the mothers, widows and sisters of fallen heroes. The graves in a patch of Columbus, Mississippi, were a stark reminder of the horrific Civil War.
As the women went about decorating the cemetery, they glimpsed the nearby barren graves of Union soldiers. These courageous women, whose loved ones may have been killed by those union soldiers, put aside their feelings of grief and began spreading flowers on their graves.
This incident is recorded as one of the first local observances of what officially became known as Decoration Day in 1868, a time for honoring the nation's war dead. Nearly a century later Decoration Day morphed into America's Memorial Day, established by Congress in 1971.
There is a lesson we can learn those Mississippi women. Soldiers are remembered and honored for their service and sacrifice. But the names of mothers, widows and girlfriends are forever lost. Yet they are heroes too whose sufferings endured beyond the grave. They too deserve a day of respect.
There are other lessons taught by the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American history. Roughly two percent of the population, an estimated 620,000 men, lost their lives. The number of Civil War causalities exceeds the combined totals of Americans killed in both world wars and Vietnam.
Historical sources today believe the causalities could have been much higher. Some put the number at 750,000. One reason for the estimate is there are no reliable resources to document the number of civilians who died in the conflict. Lost of property was also catastrophic in the South.
The death and destruction were on a scale the country had never experienced. The reunited states were ill prepared for the aftermath of the largest human calamity in American history. There were no national cemeteries, no burial details and no one to deliver the somber news to survivors.
The massive toll forced Americans to deal with the cruel realities of a war fought on its homeland. It was a lesson that made the country's leaders realize that protecting America from invasion from foreign armies should be the top security priority. That military precedent survives even today.
Today's political correctness crowd has rewritten history of the Civil War citing the moral issue of slavery as the major cause of the conflict. There is no argument that the preservation of slavery became an economic and political issue for southern states dependent on slave labor for agriculture.
When President Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860 the slave states feared the lost of influence in Washington. By 1861, eleven of the 34 states had seceded from the union, a political decision that ignited passions on both sides and hastened the bloody conflict that ensued.
Mr. Lincoln famously wrote: "If I could save the union without freeing a slave, I would do it." His sole goal was to keep America one nation. The country was born of rebellion against its English masters but leaders understood another schism would forever alter the American destiny.
Imagine an Un-United States today. It may resemble a conflagration such as the Middle East. Or the patchwork quilted former Soviet Union where grudges and ethnic violence were inflamed after the dismemberment of the Communist state. America would be a diminished nation.
Unity at all costs, even the lives of hundreds of thousands of young men, was the price Mr. Lincoln was willing to pay. That should be remembered in these times when some boorish voices, such as those in California, call for the Golden State to resign from the United States in protest of an election.
There have been the similar grumblings in other states, including in Texas when President Obama occupied the White House. Even if said in jest, cooler heads should demand that the notion of a state seceding from the union is never an acceptable remedy in these United States of America.
That day in a Mississippi cemetery more than 150 years ago is a warning that an intra-country war is indeed hell. It ripped apart a nation, left hundreds of thousands of grieving people and decimated a generation. Time heals wounds but it can never repair the needless deaths of fellow Americans.
That's why it is fitting that on this Memorial Day, the nation salute the sacrifice of the 110,100 Union soldiers who were killed on the battlefield fighting to preserve the American ideal of One Nation Under God.
Monday, May 28, 2018
Monday, May 21, 2018
Four Trillion Reasons You Should Care
The federal government is on a trajectory to spend $4.1 trillion of your money this year. The geyser of expenditures shatters another record for America. Yet whenever talk turns to budget cuts, it triggers a volcanic eruption of outrage from special interests and the Washington political class.
Even a whisper of tampering with federal expenses churns up indignant protests. Any reduction will starve hungry children, sentence the poor to homeless shelters, deny medicine to the sick and force the elderly to eat dog food. It is a pathetically predictable response. And it works every time.
But the truth is there are thousands of opportunities to trim the fat from the federal budget without harming kids, the poor, sick or seniors. Your representatives in Washington know it. However, it is not the way the budget game is played. More spending is always better for lawmakers.
The media is a willing accomplice in this theater of the absurd. Every attempt to slice a tiny bit of waste is treated with headlines about the heartless actions of a few lawmakers who are out to punish a protected demographic group. The media shields unfettered spending through its biased reporting.
A simple illustration: The Congressional watchdog known as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) just published its 2018 annual report card on opportunities for eliminating waste and duplication. The 120-page release packed with detailed figures was shunned by the media.
The extensive rundown chronicles more than 68 actions Congress and the executive branch can take to save billions. But don't expect your representative to give a hoot. The GAO has issued seven previous annual reports. More than 40% of the recommendations have not been fully implemented.
In its most recent edition, the GAO highlights the fragmentation, overlap and duplication in the tangled web of federal agencies and departments that contributes to the waste. As one example, the agency cites the 256 military Defense Distribution Centers scattered across the country.
These centers store and process goods for troop support, including everything from clothing to weapons. By adopting a more efficient distribution system, the military could potentially reap a savings of $527 million over five years. Even in Washington, that's hardly chump change.
Defense is just one area ripe for reform. The GAO also underscores ways to save millions in spending on agriculture, health, security, science, the environment and international affairs. For instance, in education the agency uncovered massive duplication in the STEM program.
The federal program is designed to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Despite the admirable goal, the agency documented there are 163 programs and 13 different agencies involved in the effort. The annual taxpayer tab for all this overlap is $2.9 billion.
The GAO isn't the only group that ferrets out wasteful spending. Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit group dedicated to ending budget abuse, regularly exposes lawmakers' reckless spending on frivolous projects.
In its latest Pig Report, the organization spotlights the $10 million budget expenditure for high energy costs grants for Rural Utilities Service. This program grew out of the depression in the 1930's and has met its original goal. But Congress keeps funding it as a way to reward rural districts.
Another example is the $6 million price tag for the Delta Regional Authority, which provides economic development assistance to 252 counties in eight states. It is duplicative of state, federal and local development projects, but it survives every year because the money goes to buy influence.
Those two projects are pikers compared to the $500 million cost of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for both the Navy and Marine Corps. The program has been in development for nearly 16 years; it is six years behind schedule; and currently tips the scales at a hefty $170 billion over budget.
The GAO has consistently criticized the expenditures and noted that the lifetime operational and maintenance costs of these outlandishly expensive aircraft will total a whopping $1 trillion. Despite the history of epic cost overruns, no one in Congress has succeeded in pulling the plug on funding.
There are a myriad of other illustrations of how lawmakers squander your tax dollars to purchase their reelection by kowtowing to special interests. Those groups include environmentalists, weapons manufacturers, farm operators, the health industry and others who feed at the budget trough.
Nothing will ever change if the American public continues to be duped by the shrill voices of those who refuse to concede a single dollar in the federal budget. The penalty for inaction is the incessant growth of the nation's debt, which now totals $19.8 trillion. Increased spending is unsustainable.
A good start would be ending the waste, duplication and outright fraud that vacuums up billions of tax dollars annually. That savings would allow the budget to shrink without impacting critical programs. Sounds like a good idea, right? Then write your representative in Congress today.
Even a whisper of tampering with federal expenses churns up indignant protests. Any reduction will starve hungry children, sentence the poor to homeless shelters, deny medicine to the sick and force the elderly to eat dog food. It is a pathetically predictable response. And it works every time.
But the truth is there are thousands of opportunities to trim the fat from the federal budget without harming kids, the poor, sick or seniors. Your representatives in Washington know it. However, it is not the way the budget game is played. More spending is always better for lawmakers.
The media is a willing accomplice in this theater of the absurd. Every attempt to slice a tiny bit of waste is treated with headlines about the heartless actions of a few lawmakers who are out to punish a protected demographic group. The media shields unfettered spending through its biased reporting.
A simple illustration: The Congressional watchdog known as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) just published its 2018 annual report card on opportunities for eliminating waste and duplication. The 120-page release packed with detailed figures was shunned by the media.
The extensive rundown chronicles more than 68 actions Congress and the executive branch can take to save billions. But don't expect your representative to give a hoot. The GAO has issued seven previous annual reports. More than 40% of the recommendations have not been fully implemented.
In its most recent edition, the GAO highlights the fragmentation, overlap and duplication in the tangled web of federal agencies and departments that contributes to the waste. As one example, the agency cites the 256 military Defense Distribution Centers scattered across the country.
These centers store and process goods for troop support, including everything from clothing to weapons. By adopting a more efficient distribution system, the military could potentially reap a savings of $527 million over five years. Even in Washington, that's hardly chump change.
Defense is just one area ripe for reform. The GAO also underscores ways to save millions in spending on agriculture, health, security, science, the environment and international affairs. For instance, in education the agency uncovered massive duplication in the STEM program.
The federal program is designed to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Despite the admirable goal, the agency documented there are 163 programs and 13 different agencies involved in the effort. The annual taxpayer tab for all this overlap is $2.9 billion.
The GAO isn't the only group that ferrets out wasteful spending. Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit group dedicated to ending budget abuse, regularly exposes lawmakers' reckless spending on frivolous projects.
In its latest Pig Report, the organization spotlights the $10 million budget expenditure for high energy costs grants for Rural Utilities Service. This program grew out of the depression in the 1930's and has met its original goal. But Congress keeps funding it as a way to reward rural districts.
Another example is the $6 million price tag for the Delta Regional Authority, which provides economic development assistance to 252 counties in eight states. It is duplicative of state, federal and local development projects, but it survives every year because the money goes to buy influence.
Those two projects are pikers compared to the $500 million cost of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft for both the Navy and Marine Corps. The program has been in development for nearly 16 years; it is six years behind schedule; and currently tips the scales at a hefty $170 billion over budget.
The GAO has consistently criticized the expenditures and noted that the lifetime operational and maintenance costs of these outlandishly expensive aircraft will total a whopping $1 trillion. Despite the history of epic cost overruns, no one in Congress has succeeded in pulling the plug on funding.
There are a myriad of other illustrations of how lawmakers squander your tax dollars to purchase their reelection by kowtowing to special interests. Those groups include environmentalists, weapons manufacturers, farm operators, the health industry and others who feed at the budget trough.
Nothing will ever change if the American public continues to be duped by the shrill voices of those who refuse to concede a single dollar in the federal budget. The penalty for inaction is the incessant growth of the nation's debt, which now totals $19.8 trillion. Increased spending is unsustainable.
A good start would be ending the waste, duplication and outright fraud that vacuums up billions of tax dollars annually. That savings would allow the budget to shrink without impacting critical programs. Sounds like a good idea, right? Then write your representative in Congress today.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Ten Questions For Robert Mueller
Someone from Robert Mueller's team of Democrat partisans likely leaked a lengthy list of questions the special counsel wants President Trump to answer. The disclosure appeared in the New York Times, which labeled the queries "tantalizing" and hinted at a widening probe of obstruction.
Democrats cheered the unauthorized leak from a supposedly secret investigation. They are convinced Mueller's final report will lay the groundwork for impeachment proceedings against the president. Democrats have made no secret this is part of a scheme to overturn the election results.
While the special prosecutor runs amok, the Times and other media have never raised a single question about Mueller's ethical conduct or his prosecutorial tactics. However, at least two federal judges recently scolded Mueller for his unethical handling of the ever expanding probe.
In the interest of fair play, Congress should issue its own list of questions for Mueller, who has strayed far afield from his mandate to expose Russian election collusion. Here are some suggestions for areas of interest to infuriated Americans who are watching Mueller's investigation with dismay:
1. How much has your investigation cost American taxpayers? The Justice Department has refused to release the amount. Only when a watchdog group sued the DOJ did Americans learn that in one five-month period in 2017 (May 17-September 30) the price tag was more than $1 million per day.
2. Why did you launch your investigation of Russian interference in the election three months before you received a memo outlining the scope of your probe from the Department of Justice? Why hasn't the DOJ publicly released an unredacted copy of the memo? What is the DOJ hiding?
3. Why did you indict former Trump campaign member Paul Manafort on 12-year old fraud charges totally unrelated to Russian collusion or the election? A judge chided you for lodging the indictment simply to force him to rat out the president. Does this constitute unethical prosecutorial conduct?
4. Why have so many leaks appeared in the New York Times and Washington Post when your refuse to publicly answer any Congressional questions about the investigation? Are you using your position to malign the president in the media because you have no proof of collusion?
5. Some leaked information suggests you are concerned about why President Trump fired your long-time friend and confidant James Comey as director of the FBI. Do you realize that under the Constitution the president can fire anyone who works for him without cause? This is not a crime.
6. Did the DOJ sanction your role in the FBI raid on the offices and hotel room of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen? Why did you turn over the investigation to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York? If this was unrelated to Russian collusion, why were you involved?
7. Was it ethical for a throng of FBI agents with guns drawn to raid the home of Manafort in the middle of the night? Had Manafort refused to allow a search of his premises prompting the midnight attack? Judges have reprimanded prosecutors for a lot less.
8. Wasn't Michael Flynn the subject of abusive unmasking by the Obama Administration after his communications were unintentionally intercepted as part of a foreign counterintelligence operation? Doesn't this taint your entire probe of Mr. Flynn? Would any judge allow this evidence in court?
9. Did you withhold evidence about the FISA court from the attorneys for Flynn during your prosecution of the former National Security Adviser? Was Flynn advised that a Democrat paid-for dossier was used to obtain a FISA warrant to eavesdrop on his communications?
10. Recently-fired deputy head of FBI counterintelligence Peter Strzok was unceremoniously dumped from your investigative team in July of last year yet you waited until December to disclose his departure. Was this part of a cover up to protect Strzok from being fired by the FBI?
The current special counsel's inquiry has far reaching constitutional repercussions. Unless Mueller is held to account for his deportment, it will set a precedent for out of control, never ending investigations of sitting presidents. Is that any way to run a Democracy?
Democrats thinly veiled coup attempt is destined to fail. When it does, it will be interesting to watch if the party changes its tune if a future Democrat president must deal with a special counsel probe. Constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz has sounded an alarm on the use of special prosecutors.
Speaking to an audience in Dallas, the former Harvard law professor said: "They (Western Democracies) don't appoint a special counsel and tell them 'Get that guy...that's what they did in the Soviet Union."
America doesn't need an unelected outsider to police our Democracy against collusion with foreign governments. Congress, the CIA, FBI and DOJ are all charged with that responsibility. The use of a special counsel is a crutch that will cripple Democracy. It's time to end the Mueller debacle.
Democrats cheered the unauthorized leak from a supposedly secret investigation. They are convinced Mueller's final report will lay the groundwork for impeachment proceedings against the president. Democrats have made no secret this is part of a scheme to overturn the election results.
While the special prosecutor runs amok, the Times and other media have never raised a single question about Mueller's ethical conduct or his prosecutorial tactics. However, at least two federal judges recently scolded Mueller for his unethical handling of the ever expanding probe.
In the interest of fair play, Congress should issue its own list of questions for Mueller, who has strayed far afield from his mandate to expose Russian election collusion. Here are some suggestions for areas of interest to infuriated Americans who are watching Mueller's investigation with dismay:
1. How much has your investigation cost American taxpayers? The Justice Department has refused to release the amount. Only when a watchdog group sued the DOJ did Americans learn that in one five-month period in 2017 (May 17-September 30) the price tag was more than $1 million per day.
2. Why did you launch your investigation of Russian interference in the election three months before you received a memo outlining the scope of your probe from the Department of Justice? Why hasn't the DOJ publicly released an unredacted copy of the memo? What is the DOJ hiding?
3. Why did you indict former Trump campaign member Paul Manafort on 12-year old fraud charges totally unrelated to Russian collusion or the election? A judge chided you for lodging the indictment simply to force him to rat out the president. Does this constitute unethical prosecutorial conduct?
4. Why have so many leaks appeared in the New York Times and Washington Post when your refuse to publicly answer any Congressional questions about the investigation? Are you using your position to malign the president in the media because you have no proof of collusion?
5. Some leaked information suggests you are concerned about why President Trump fired your long-time friend and confidant James Comey as director of the FBI. Do you realize that under the Constitution the president can fire anyone who works for him without cause? This is not a crime.
6. Did the DOJ sanction your role in the FBI raid on the offices and hotel room of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen? Why did you turn over the investigation to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York? If this was unrelated to Russian collusion, why were you involved?
7. Was it ethical for a throng of FBI agents with guns drawn to raid the home of Manafort in the middle of the night? Had Manafort refused to allow a search of his premises prompting the midnight attack? Judges have reprimanded prosecutors for a lot less.
8. Wasn't Michael Flynn the subject of abusive unmasking by the Obama Administration after his communications were unintentionally intercepted as part of a foreign counterintelligence operation? Doesn't this taint your entire probe of Mr. Flynn? Would any judge allow this evidence in court?
9. Did you withhold evidence about the FISA court from the attorneys for Flynn during your prosecution of the former National Security Adviser? Was Flynn advised that a Democrat paid-for dossier was used to obtain a FISA warrant to eavesdrop on his communications?
10. Recently-fired deputy head of FBI counterintelligence Peter Strzok was unceremoniously dumped from your investigative team in July of last year yet you waited until December to disclose his departure. Was this part of a cover up to protect Strzok from being fired by the FBI?
The current special counsel's inquiry has far reaching constitutional repercussions. Unless Mueller is held to account for his deportment, it will set a precedent for out of control, never ending investigations of sitting presidents. Is that any way to run a Democracy?
Democrats thinly veiled coup attempt is destined to fail. When it does, it will be interesting to watch if the party changes its tune if a future Democrat president must deal with a special counsel probe. Constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz has sounded an alarm on the use of special prosecutors.
Speaking to an audience in Dallas, the former Harvard law professor said: "They (Western Democracies) don't appoint a special counsel and tell them 'Get that guy...that's what they did in the Soviet Union."
America doesn't need an unelected outsider to police our Democracy against collusion with foreign governments. Congress, the CIA, FBI and DOJ are all charged with that responsibility. The use of a special counsel is a crutch that will cripple Democracy. It's time to end the Mueller debacle.
Monday, May 7, 2018
How To Fix America's Public Schools
America annually spends more than $664 billion on public elementary and secondary education. Since 2000-2001, the nation’s outlays have increased 15%, adjusted for inflation. In the last 50 years, the federal government has pumped $2 trillion into American schools.
Despite an annual budget of $68 billion, the Department of Education contributes only 5% of the total funding for public schools. On average, state and local governments provide 47% and 45%, respectively. Expenditures per student ($13,119) are 28% higher than industrialized countries.
Even with a lopsided advantage in funding for education, America's students are falling further behind their international peers. American students placed an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in mathematics and a disappointing 24th in science.
Those results were reported by the Program for International Student Assessment in 2015, the most recent year the tests were administered. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development the nation's 15-year-olds ranked 30th in math and 19th in science.
Not many Americans are astonished by those depressing statistics. A Pew Research Center report in 2015 found that a paltry 29 percent of adults rated their country's K-12 education system best in the world. If Americans know schools are failing, why isn't something being done to fix it?
The answer is the education cabal always blames funding for its woeful performance. However, if America is spending more than other industrialized nations, our students should rank among the best educated. Since they are losing ground, there is no evidence more spending will change the equation.
America's hidebound educational system needs more than a tweak. Improving student performance will require a substantial overhaul. There are many good ideas floating around, but the education establishment always erects roadblocks to change. Here are a few fixes for public education:
HIRE BETTER TEACHERS
Schools are only as good as the teachers. Fancy computers, gleaming science labs, high-tech classrooms are window-dressing. Children learn primarily from the people who teach them. America's system of educating and training teachers remains stuck in the past. Too often universities steer weaker students into teaching degree programs. In Japan, educators don't have teaching degrees. These instructors are required to have a specialized skill and experience in industry. It may be a chief reason Japan ranks near the top in math and science. Nothing will change in this nation until schools and school boards stop catering to the political bullies in the teachers union.
ELEVATE THE TEACHING PROFESSION
If America wants better teachers, it has to be willing to pay for professionals. Research by the National Association of Colleges and Employees surveyed the top 10 categories of degreed graduates and found that education majors ranked dead last on the pay scale. That is unconscionable for a country that professes to value education. The median national average salary for an American teacher is $43,884. Most college graduates land a first job that pays better. However, just raising pay for existing teachers will not improve education. The country needs to recruit the best and brightest for a career in public education. Then administrators and school boards must pay them as professionals. Spending on teacher salaries as a percent of the average school budget has declined from 64% to 57% since 2000-2001, according to the National Center for Education Studies.
USE BETTER TOOLS TO EVALUATE TEACHERS
Under today's system, teachers are evaluated on standardized tests supplemented by the judgment of school administrators. In way too many cases, the school administrator has never set foot in a classroom full of students. Each teacher should be evaluated on the performance of their students. The class would be tested three times a school semester to judge their learning. Teachers grades would be based on how well the students learn. Administrators would be limited to evaluating teachers' adherence to school policies. Even in the worst schools, a good teacher should be able to lift the performance of their students. If not, they are in the wrong profession.
JUNK ALL THOSE NATIONAL TESTS
Teaching has become an exercise in preparing students to pass a state or national standardized test. There are too many tests that do not measure critical skills needed in the workplace. There is more to learning than some test designed by so-called experts in Washington or your state's capitol Allow teachers to return to the basics of increasing student comprehension of math, science, technology and engineering. Those subjects are required to prepare American students for tomorrow's workforce. With that in mind, get rid of subjects that no longer have relevance. Too much school time is spent on state history and too little on world history.
No matter how good these ideas are, the status quo will never change until parents demand it. Parents and taxpayers are footing the bill for public education. They get to vote on local school board members. That gives them a significant voice in what goes on in their schools.
Sadly, too many parents are not engaged in their child's education. They have no clue about what's being taught in their child's school and why. They are too busy to get involved. That clearly is the biggest stumbling block to making meaningful change in America's public education system.
Despite an annual budget of $68 billion, the Department of Education contributes only 5% of the total funding for public schools. On average, state and local governments provide 47% and 45%, respectively. Expenditures per student ($13,119) are 28% higher than industrialized countries.
Even with a lopsided advantage in funding for education, America's students are falling further behind their international peers. American students placed an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in mathematics and a disappointing 24th in science.
Those results were reported by the Program for International Student Assessment in 2015, the most recent year the tests were administered. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development the nation's 15-year-olds ranked 30th in math and 19th in science.
Not many Americans are astonished by those depressing statistics. A Pew Research Center report in 2015 found that a paltry 29 percent of adults rated their country's K-12 education system best in the world. If Americans know schools are failing, why isn't something being done to fix it?
The answer is the education cabal always blames funding for its woeful performance. However, if America is spending more than other industrialized nations, our students should rank among the best educated. Since they are losing ground, there is no evidence more spending will change the equation.
America's hidebound educational system needs more than a tweak. Improving student performance will require a substantial overhaul. There are many good ideas floating around, but the education establishment always erects roadblocks to change. Here are a few fixes for public education:
HIRE BETTER TEACHERS
Schools are only as good as the teachers. Fancy computers, gleaming science labs, high-tech classrooms are window-dressing. Children learn primarily from the people who teach them. America's system of educating and training teachers remains stuck in the past. Too often universities steer weaker students into teaching degree programs. In Japan, educators don't have teaching degrees. These instructors are required to have a specialized skill and experience in industry. It may be a chief reason Japan ranks near the top in math and science. Nothing will change in this nation until schools and school boards stop catering to the political bullies in the teachers union.
ELEVATE THE TEACHING PROFESSION
If America wants better teachers, it has to be willing to pay for professionals. Research by the National Association of Colleges and Employees surveyed the top 10 categories of degreed graduates and found that education majors ranked dead last on the pay scale. That is unconscionable for a country that professes to value education. The median national average salary for an American teacher is $43,884. Most college graduates land a first job that pays better. However, just raising pay for existing teachers will not improve education. The country needs to recruit the best and brightest for a career in public education. Then administrators and school boards must pay them as professionals. Spending on teacher salaries as a percent of the average school budget has declined from 64% to 57% since 2000-2001, according to the National Center for Education Studies.
USE BETTER TOOLS TO EVALUATE TEACHERS
Under today's system, teachers are evaluated on standardized tests supplemented by the judgment of school administrators. In way too many cases, the school administrator has never set foot in a classroom full of students. Each teacher should be evaluated on the performance of their students. The class would be tested three times a school semester to judge their learning. Teachers grades would be based on how well the students learn. Administrators would be limited to evaluating teachers' adherence to school policies. Even in the worst schools, a good teacher should be able to lift the performance of their students. If not, they are in the wrong profession.
JUNK ALL THOSE NATIONAL TESTS
Teaching has become an exercise in preparing students to pass a state or national standardized test. There are too many tests that do not measure critical skills needed in the workplace. There is more to learning than some test designed by so-called experts in Washington or your state's capitol Allow teachers to return to the basics of increasing student comprehension of math, science, technology and engineering. Those subjects are required to prepare American students for tomorrow's workforce. With that in mind, get rid of subjects that no longer have relevance. Too much school time is spent on state history and too little on world history.
No matter how good these ideas are, the status quo will never change until parents demand it. Parents and taxpayers are footing the bill for public education. They get to vote on local school board members. That gives them a significant voice in what goes on in their schools.
Sadly, too many parents are not engaged in their child's education. They have no clue about what's being taught in their child's school and why. They are too busy to get involved. That clearly is the biggest stumbling block to making meaningful change in America's public education system.