Pondering our Education System

Education is one of the major building blocks to a successful life. I have been thinking a lot recently about the role that education plays in our lives and how it interacts with other competing interests such as sports and other social programs. I find myself frequently wondering why sports programs are so often put ahead of educational programs. I am angered by what I have seen firsthand in my own daughter’s school. When things got tight with the budget many programs such as art and music were the first to be cut with almost no thought as to what the consequences would be. Young teachers that the kids liked and that had new perspectives on teaching were laid off and the entrenched tenured teachers that had been in the school system for many years were kept on with no regard to teacher performance; at the same time the school sports program surged ahead with my town voting to build a brand new state-of-the-art track.
This is really troubling and I don’t think that it is something that is confined to my town only. If the American people and politicians truly want American kids to grow up to be world leaders in areas such as science and math we need to put education first. That is not to say that sports don’t play a very important role; I do believe that programs that challenge kids physically are very important, but it is a matter of finding a fine balance between too much and not enough with more emphasis on cutting edge education .
Bureaucrats at the top of our school system need to start being more creative and look for ways to do away with the tenure system. There are many young teachers out there that are unemployed or unable to get the jobs they want because of the way the system is set up. Many of these individuals are vibrant and enthusiastic about learning and teaching. They would bring a love of learning and a new perspective on learning down to our kid’s level where it is needed the most. Of course there is one major obstacle in the way...teachers unions. 
I am also perturbed by the way that a select handful of students that are ahead of the majority of the class are made to wait for the rest to catch up instead of treating each kid as an individual and challenging them on their own level. Imagine the things that could be done if each child was infused with a love to learn without limits and challenged to always try to do better, making learning fun but not boring! This kind of philosophy starts at the very top. It is high time that Americans got a fresh start and bounced back.  For our economy to flourish again we need to be leaders not followers. We are clearly not leading the world in manufacturing anymore. If jobs are to be created we need to take action now and ensure that our kids have a brighter future and keep the American Dream alive and well.

The Main Stream Media

How does the news we get on a daily basis from the main stream media affect the way we act and think? All or most of our news comes from major networks such as Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Some say that many of these large networks are advancing their own agendas. Take for example Rupert Murdoch who owns News Corporation, Fox News, The New York Post, and Dow Jones and Company which runs The Wall Street Journal. He also has ties or direct investment in many other media groups in the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Murdock has donated 1 million dollars this year to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and his News America division has given 1 million dollars to the Republican Governors Association both of which are working to get Republicans elected.
Since he founded the Fox network it has been slanted decidedly to the right. It is not a station that people can watch and get an unbiased view. Fox News, however, has one of the highest ratings for consumer satisfaction because people know exactly what they are going to get. MSNBC is the flip side of the coin as a left leaning media corporation.
News stations and other media seem to influence public thinking just by reporting the same things over and over again and "hyping" up issues and events. It seems that the more reporting is done on something the more other reporters are attracted to the same issue, resulting in more reporting on the same issues. It is a never ending circle that gets bigger and bigger with every pass. I don't know if this is intentional and it may be that as the digital, instant, media gains in popularity that it will work itself out by providing unfiltered news and commentary that can be deciphered by the end consumer instead of being edited, chopped, spun, and watered down by the news networks.
I am interested in hearing what others have to say about this so please comment with your thoughts.

Tea Anyone?

While the Tea Party movement in America may be a sign that Democracy is alive and well as former President Bush recently noted, I believe that many of the Tea Party's ultra-conservative ideas are going to drag the country backwards at least in the short term. Don't get me wrong there are many ideas that have been floated such as cutting program administrative costs rather than cutting the programs and making government smaller that I do agree with. At the same time I am worried that all this cutting is going to be counter-productive to advancing the issues and programs that I believe are vital such as the Affordable Care Act. I am also worried that if we cut way back on government spending now while the economy is still struggling to recover more jobs will be lost due to a lack of demand. If people are scared to spend there has to be an alternative to provide the demand to drive the economy forward.
Wall Street lobbyist are already calling on the new Republican House to repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Law saying that it is unconstitutional based on the fact that it only applies to banks with over a certain dollar amount of assets. I ask, is it in the Constitution that when a large bank fails is it up to the taxpayers and citizens of the U.S. to bail it out? If there exists a business or group of businesses big enough to bring down the whole U.S. economy there certainly needs to be a barriers in place to prevent it's failure. That seems to me to be a pretty straightforward and honest answer. As I have said before, if business is allowed to be completely "free" and unregulated it will push harder and harder to improve it's bottom line regardless of the cost to the people that are run over in the process.
These things worry me. While on one hand I believe in capitalism and free enterprise, I on the other hand also believe that we need a system in place and "tools" in the toolbox to prevent and control the inevitable downturns. The Federal Reserve Bank was set up precisely for this purpose. Political wannabees like Sarah Palin saying that the Fed should "cease and desist" are not going to do anything to help create jobs and boost the economy.
I must say that the U.S. Constitution of two hundred plus years ago while founded upon a core of truly great ideas and rights that still apply today may not always work in today's world. We are fools to think that is does and will. We need to take the basic document and interpret it as it applies today not yesterday. The Tea Party's core mission is to defend the Constitution. What about the people that are standing behind the Constitution? Is it in our interest to defend corporations on the same level as the individual? When money is allowed to "buy" the law something is morally wrong! 
In conclusion it is our obligation to question everything that we hear and always be on the defensive. It is not a time to be complacent and let someone else do the job for us. We should welcome good ideas regardless of where they come from but always be on guard for  propaganda from corporate America  and from those among us that are only looking out for their own interests. It is time for the people to come first!

A New Promise of Change

Now that he 2010 election is over many of us are left wondering what the future will hold. Will the Republican promise of change have any meaning in two more years? Will the Republican party be willing to compromise and work with a Democratic Senate and President? One thing that is encouraging is the influx of new lawmakers with a lot of new ideas and the motivation and energy to get things done. I am hopeful for this country that they don't hit to many road blocks and are able to do something constructive with all this energy that is not damaging to the economy or the middle class.
I do believe that the Democrats were caught in a political cross fire that was planned by the Republican Party for the last two years. By snubbing the Democratic majority's every idea and digging in their heels they set the backdrop for yesterdays big Republican wins. They knew and many have admitted off the record that the economy was not going to get better in just two years and that by biding their time and stalling they would be well positioned to win in 2010.  It is saddening that they couldn't be more productive with their time and our money.
I am willing to set all this aside though and give the benefit of the doubt. I am of the thought that like me most Americans are sick of the political bickering and just want to move forward regardless of what party is in power. In the past good things have happened when government powers have been divided; after all that is what makes our government so great. With a wider range of ideas in the pool and no one power able to "push" their ideas ahead there is more likely to be meaningful compromise that draws the whole Congress to the middle.
I truly believe that we do have a government that can work for the people . I also believe that issues like health care and wall street reform are important and should NOT be repealed or blocked. In the interest of moving forward I hope that the new Republican House majority can put aside partisan fighting and realize that their are many people out here that want these new laws. Only time will tell what will transpire but we can only hope that the people will prevail and that the government will be able to move forward in a bipartisan way.