Thompson recognizes the importance of education for a democracy...
Sure glad we don't live in one. The use of this word in this way should be a huge red flag to any conservative.
...and despite the fact that billions of dollars has been poured in the education systems...
They need an editor.
...our schools are not performing well enough. He wants to lessen the bureaucracy...
Really? I thought he was a federalist? Where exactly is the enumerated constitutional power that allows the national government to have ANY say in anything to do with education - except in the military?
...and give parents more choices of schools, reduce federal mandates and return moneys to the state, encourage vouchers, charter schools, and foster competition and choice to improve schools, encourage teachers and students to study science, technology, engineering, and math, because these fields are crucial not only for prosperity but also for security in a post 9/11 world; he is also committed to “Promoting transparency to assess performance, promote accountability, and share innovations in education at all levels.”
More top-down statist nonsense, with the federal government firmly in control of all the power.
Simply get the federal government out of their unconstitutional role in education, and let us keep our education dollars at home where they belong - instead of sending them to Washington so they can run them through the bureaucracy and send a tiny percentage back to us with strings attached.
If you loved "No Child Left Behind," you'll love Fred Thompson.
Why? Most people consider what we have a democracy. They know that our laws are not decided by direct vote but by their Representatives in their local towns, in their states and in the national Congress, but they think that is democracy. If you told folks that we are actually a representative Republic, they'd look at you like you had two heads!
“...and give parents more choices of schools, reduce federal mandates and return moneys to the state, encourage vouchers, charter schools, and foster competition and choice to improve schools, encourage teachers and students to study science, technology, engineering, and math, because these fields are crucial not only for prosperity but also for security in a post 9/11 world; he is also committed to “Promoting transparency to assess performance, promote accountability, and share innovations in education at all levels.”
More top-down statist nonsense, with the federal government firmly in control of all the power. “
Whoa. You were right on the federalist contradiction (not that we’ll get anywhere on getting rid of the Dept of Ed anyway, but it would be nice for the ‘federalist’ label to mean something) ... BUT ...
“give parents more choices of schools, reduce federal mandates and return moneys to the state, encourage vouchers, charter schools, and foster competition and choice to improve schools” ... ALL go away from the stalinist education model to the market/choice/freedom model.
The ultimate local control is parental control and the path to parental control is school choice via vouchers.
A clear “end NCLB, end bilingual education, abolish the Dept of Ed, end Federal red tape” would be best, but I’ll take a federal focus on school choice as a nice runner up.