Dept. of Education rhetoric

[H Roark]

I'm pretty tired of hearing Ron Paul mentioning getting rid of the Dept. of Education at every debate. That is the issue that is turning off alot of potential voters! I lost a friend's support due to that issue and as a student it happens to be the only part of his platform I cannot agree with. If this talk is not helping the campaign right now with the Republicans, it is going to kill us once we go head on against the Democrats.

NONE OF THE CANDIDATES ARE TALKING ABOUT SCHOOL VOUCHERS! Ron Paul needs to adopt this position! Everyone needs an education in order to be self-sustaining, so why not give each individual the option of either staying in public school or using a tax voucher toward his or her private school of choice.

 

[zakkubin]

I would agree that he needs to address why the Republican platform was to get rid of it for confused voters. But I also know it's hard to do that in 30 seconds when defending a question like, are you electable?

But when you understand why we should do away with it there reason is no reason why you shouldn't agree...


1- It's against the constitution. Fed. gov. has no authority to regulate public schools

2- It cost BILLIONS of dollars for the fed. gov. at a time when overspending it our national gov. primary problem. As added salt to the wound what are they doing? - No Child Left Behind.
This program is the perfect example of how the "one size fits all" approach does more harm than good.

3- Closing the Fed. D. of E. means no more taxing for it. So each state's respective department of education will have more financing that will pay for the growth that will be needed. Now every state will be able to determine what needs to be done in their state. Arkansas knows what their kids need more than someone in Washington.

4- The money spent in each state will be their states money. People and governments will spend their money more efficiently when it's their own.

5- "The office of citizen is the most powerful office one can have" This should be true... However now if a parent or students has a problem the chain of command goes all the way to Washington. With states in control a citizen will be able to go to the school board and state if needed. If the state rep. refuses to change a policy the public doesn't want then the people elect someone local who will. This all falls apart when you have so many layers as we do now...

6- The same way competition in the marketplace works is the same for policy/laws. Each states will initially have different standards and ideas on how to improve things. Other states will copy and "innovate" on these ideas in hopes of improving their state. So while independent in decision making ALL our schools will begin to move in the right direction through the wonders of competition in the marketplace.

 

[jacmicwag]

Yep - classic Ron.

 

[JS4Pat]

I'm pretty tired of hearing Ron Paul mentioning getting rid of the Dept. of Education at every debate. That is the issue that is turning off alot of potential voters! I lost a friend's support due to that issue and as a student it happens to be the only part of his platform I cannot agree with.

Then you and your friend are missing the essence of Ron Paul's entire message!

I never get tired of a leader standing against unconstitutional spending at the federal level. Especially when that spending is taking control away from local governments (parents) and negatively impacting the education of this generation!

This is one of his strongest and most important issues!

 

[jacmicwag]

Then you and your friend are missing the essence of Ron Paul's entire message!

I never get tired of a leader standing against unconstitutional spending at the federal level. Especially when that spending is taking control away from local governments (parents) and negatively impacting the education of this generation!

This is one of his strongest and most important issues!

Agreed. But at first impression without explanation it sounds akin to outlawing reading. To some, it might appear that Ron is running on the anti-education ticket. Maybe that's why Reagan gave up on the idea.

 

[steph3n]

BTW school vouchers are a ploy to get government involved in private schools because they then "Accept" government funding, something that many private schools will deny to accept for just this reason!

 

[JS4Pat]

Agreed. But at first impression without explanation it sounds akin to outlawing reading. To some, it might appear that Ron is running on the anti-education ticket. Maybe that's why Reagan gave up on the idea.

True.

He needs to have more of those "Let me get this straight moments..."

We ask Americans to send the Federal Department of Education $X billions of dollars so that it can turn around and distribute "some" of those dollars out to 50 State Departments of Education, so they can divy it out to local School Boards.

What is going on here?????

Why not take Washington out of the equation and allow Americans to pay their education dollars directly to those who they can actually have some impact when it comes to how the money is spent?

 

[Crickett]

Agreed. But at first impression without explanation it sounds akin to outlawing reading. To some, it might appear that Ron is running on the anti-education ticket. Maybe that's why Reagan gave up on the idea.

True..and neither of your posts explains why, at all. LOL

 

[Crickett]

True.

He needs to have more of those "Let me get this straight moments..."

We ask Americans to send the Federal Department of Education $X billions of dollars so that it can turn around and distribute "some" of those dollars out to 50 State Departments of Education, so they can divy it out to local School Boards.

What is going on here?????

Why not take Washington out of the equation and allow Americans to pay their education dollars directly to those who they can actually have some impact when it comes to how the money is spent?

YEAH!!!! That would do it!!!!!!!..but I would add......divvy it out to local schoolboards as long as they abide by Government regulations on what is taught?

 

[Thumper]

My sister, who is an administrator at a public school loves the fact that RP wants to get rid of the Dept. of Education. That is one of the biggest reasons she is voting for him.

It's so annoying that most people in this country are totally reactionary, not to mention ignorant. Rather than actually listening to the argument, or God forbid researching it, they make a snap judgement instead.

For those that actually understand this issue it is huge. With teachers I have talked to, it's almost a guarantee that they will support RP.

 

[DDMX]

When people hear he wants to get rid of D.O.E, their first thought is... "He doesn't support our schools.. He doesn't support our children's education... he is crazy"

 

[BreakYourChains]

True.

He needs to have more of those "Let me get this straight moments..."

We ask Americans to send the Federal Department of Education $X billions of dollars so that it can turn around and distribute "some" of those dollars out to 50 State Departments of Education, so they can divy it out to local School Boards.

What is going on here?????

Why not take Washington out of the equation and allow Americans to pay their education dollars directly to those who they can actually have some impact when it comes to how the money is spent?

Agree 100%! Most of the old guard Republicans have forgotten the original party platform. When RP talks of getting rid of the Dept of Education, we know what he means, but average Joe just thinks "Oh, no! Now what will I do if I can't put Johnny in school? How can I work these two jobs?" We need to come down several levels in our thinking. He needs to drop this line completely, unless he does develop an answer exactly like the above "Let me get this straight" moments. And, answers need to be developed for every category of question.

 

[brandon]

I'm pretty tired of hearing Ron Paul mentioning getting rid of the Dept. of Education at every debate. That is the issue that is turning off alot of potential voters! I lost a friend's support due to that issue and as a student it happens to be the only part of his platform I cannot agree with. If this talk is not helping the campaign right now with the Republicans, it is going to kill us once we go head on against the Democrats.

You're right, Paul should just always say the most popular thing and pander to as many people as possible. Frankly, I am sick of him critisizing our foreign policy and the FED. None of the other candidates do it and they all get votes, so Paul should really stop this nonsence. Oh yea, and the talk about civil liberties, there is no reason for him to keep mentioning that either. It clearly isn't popular.