Liberty and Revolution

I just read Ron Paul's manifesto from the last presidential campaign, The Revolution. (See the Shelfari widget to the right----->) 

I can admit to agreeing with much of the libertarian philosophy he espouses.  We do need to shrink government.  We need to end war.  We need to get back to the basics of the Constitution. We need to project our values in our diplomacy, not the "big stick" of Teddy Roosevelt and W. Some of the other policies, especially the economic ones like reverting to the gold standard, I'd need to research and perhaps listen to thoughtful (as opposed to cable news and talk radio) debate. 

But I have to take issue with one policy--returning education exclusively to local control.  I agree that our educational system is a disgrace.  Our children don't learn what is required for our survival and leadership in the 21st Century global theater.  But returning full control of education to the states without some federal guidelines would aggravate the problem, not solve it.

My experience of 10 years on a local school board leads me to this conclusion.  Taxpayers don't want their taxes to increase.  The more local, the more taxpayer influence.  Most people look to their own pocketbook first and prefer to keep their money there, not using it to help the neighborhood kids learn.  Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of wasteful spending in education, much of it caused by states and local districts floundering without firm objectives for achieving educational success.  There is no national definition of what constitutes this success, so local districts are left to figure it out for themselves and often waste funds pursuing this or that "latest" theory of pedagogy.  That's why I feel the federal government should set and enforce a baseline competency that needs to be attained in language, math, science, and social studies.  Teachers, students,and administrators would be evaluated on the attainment of these benchmarks.  Those schools that make it, hurray.  Those that don't should be reorganized, the teachers and administrators dismissed, and resources allocated to the schools to assist them in succeeding.  Parents need to take responsibility for sending their children to school ready to learn and parents need to work WITH educators in maintaining standards of scholarship and discipline, not fighting policies and procedures that enable learning to take place.

Only with national standards can we compete in education with countries such as Denmark, Sweden, and Japan.  And local taxpayers will feel less of a pinch when the funding comes from the vastly larger money pool of the national government.