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A well-educated society is critical for prosperity and for preservation of our freedom. Without significant improvement of our education system our prosperity and freedom are threatened.
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Government schools do a relatively poor job of educating children.
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Government schools’ generic schedules and curricula cannot possibly serve individual preferences and learning needs of students.
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Government education is driven as much or more by politics, self preservation and fear of the education unions than by the mission: student learning.
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There is a very limited relationship between money spent per student and education quality.
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Community-based (decentralized) schools provide a superior education.
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Parents -- including those who are politicians and that are involved with government schools -- are taking their children out of government schools at an accelerating pace.
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Over 7 million children attend non-government schools nationwide -- about 5.25 million in conventional private and religious schools (there are more than 40 private schools in Oakland CA alone), and 2 million in home schools.
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Despite being paid at least 25% more and having smaller class sizes than teachers in non-government schools, government school teachers are less satisfied with their jobs.
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The federal government should play no role in education. 1) education is a community endeavor, 2) the federal government’s scope (as described in the U.S. Constitution) does not include education, 3) one-size-fits-all federal programs are rarely effective, 4) federal programs have expensive testing and other compliance costs and restrictions on how monies may be used.
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Give more autonomy to principals and teachers to fashion the kind of schools parents want and students need.
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Good teachers are essential to any school. Encourage good teachers by:
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Paying for success: a teacher's pay should be higher is s/he is teaching
a subject for which s/he has a college degree. For example, 10% more pay
for bachelor’s degree, another 10% more for a master’s degree.
Also, teachers' pay should be set based primarily on evaluations by
students, parents, peers, and principals.
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Simplify credentialing requirements and eliminate education unions’ monopoly
on education jobs. Many well qualified professionals and retirees who would
teach, even on a volunteer basis, do not teach due in part due to
requirements which serve only to preserve the education bureaucracy and
teacher union’s power.
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Allow teachers to decide how and by whom they should be represented,
including new “grass-roots” unions.
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No tax money should be sent to the federal government for education. Any tax money spent for education should be spent locally, without federal government meddling, red tape and expensive overheads.
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Parents, principals, and students understand students’ needs best; we should allow parents and students to choose which school to attend. Give 70% of average spending per student for government schools to the school attended, leave 30% with local school district to cover fixed costs.
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Encourage more private funding for schools that need a lot of help. The potential is significant!
rev 7/16/04
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