Certainly, we have seen changes in our schools during the last 20 years. Teacher salaries have been raised, student-teacher ratios have been reduced, annual per-pupil spending has increased by about 40 percent and total annual expenditures have grown by nearly 60 percent in constant dollars, from about $180 billion to $280 billion.
Note, however, that those changes were supported by the teacher unions. The unions welcome reforms that lead to higher salaries and smaller classes for teachers and more dues-revenue for the unions. At the same time, the teacher unions oppose reforms that would empower parents or allow private schools to compete on a level playing field for students...
...These are some of the more humanitarian issues the Republican Party could be discussing. Especially independent conservatives and moderates who feel that education should be reformed from the ground up.
The Republican Party can continue to ignore Blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities on issues that matter the most. Gone are the days of coming into the inner city around election time. The next great war on education will take place in the inner cities of Michigan starting now. You can no longer sit and wait to see what is going to happen. Parents want more educational options in the inner city. This includes charter schools and vouchers for private schools. This is a discussion we can no longer ignore.
As a (hopeful) future high school teacher of Latin...VERY YES. Education is not just the perfect issue for Republicans who have all the common sense and none of the establishment advantages
in this debate--it's also an area of vital interest in every community in this state, urban, suburban, and rural. If we as conservatives want to reach people where they are again, then we need to find our voice on issues like this.
I know a lot of my readers will agree. (Both of them.) And if you do, you need to be going into your local Republican meetings, talking to the people there, and spreading this idea. You need to volunteer to help spread it to the community, and let people know that the Republicans have the policy ideas that speak to their lives and their values.
We as a party cannot ignore everything east of Livingston County! The Democratic Party has maintained a stranglehold over an area that they've simultaneously destroyed both economically and morally. We have the message, we can have our voice...but can we have the humility and the compassion to reach out to people who are different from us?
Posts
