Make Trade and Vocational Schools Great Again.
Bring back the tradecraft skills needed to help bring product production back from across the pond. From gardening/farming, construction, electrical/linemen, plumbing, woodworking… skill sets that will continue even if the grid goes down.
Think about it America.
No need for this one it’s shutting down and being handed back to the states
@ReblMom We have to all contact Customer Support and let them know our profiles are not displaying a Vote box. I did so and I believe there is a glitch. They told me to try it with Chrome, and there is still a problem. I wonder how many other people are having this issue?
IMO, the Dept. of Education no longer serves it;s true purpose, Could save a Huge amount of TaxPayer dollars by closing it.
MACKENZIE PRICE ** - An Innovative, Leading Educator who created the Alpha learning school model in Texas and Florida. Focuses on Foundations of Life Skills and Practical life applications of interest lead learning. She understands the environment and approach that our children need to thoroughly engage in concrete learning.
John, I think you should be nominated for education or energy and infrastructure! Which would you prefer?
Thank you. Why not both?
Science needs a complete overhaul for sure! What is typically crammed into a single grade level really needs to be cut in half and delved into in a very HANDS ON approach. And I do not mean reading about a cell from a textbook, being told to memorize all its parts, and showing diagrams on a white board or looking just at a few different kinds of plant cells under a microscope. BORING! Most kids have information retention problems and we expect them to carry over this random slew of information they didn’t really care about or learn well in the we first place into the following year. Its a loosing battle.
JBae28: Definately. The NGSS is deficient in several regards. The soundbite is that we should be teaching children HOW to think, not WHAT to think (as is being done now). Michele is onboard with this profoundly important change in K-12 education emphasis.
Thank you for this rare opportunity to add a single observation which does not get nearly enough attention.
School board elections give public schools the appearance of legitimacy through accountability, but this is a trap. The conventional wisdom is that if you want change, you should get involved and run for school board. However, this line of reasoning is flawed.
In reality, the ability for union-controlled schools to course-correct was lost in the 1970s and 1980s when discretionary authority was eliminated in public education. This is because employment cannot be left to the whims of elections. The only way out of this catch-22 is to eliminate political control of school governance, which can be achieved through parental choice.
In the US, locally elected school boards have existed for generations. However, since the 1970s and the rise of teacher unions, while the “form” of the institution has not changed, their “function” is different. School boards promote the idea that public accountability is possible. Instead, they systematically protect the insitution from accountability by laundering teacher union control.
Teacher union contracts and state laws put in place decades ago, tie the hands of administrators too tightly. School board directors are practically impotent. These contracts and laws also form the structural foundation of teacher union power, such as payroll deduction, control of school communications, on-site stewards. Since George Floyd especially, we have seen what this machine is doing to and with students. Who marched with their striking teachers as a child? I did.
This machine (in RTW states as well) cannot practically be opposed by lay-leaders running for school boards. The power asymmetry is too great. School directors running on “reform” platforms find themselves both ineffective and recalled.
Educating children is challenging enough without teacher union contracts and management alignment with employees, and local attendance monopolies. Children and families, especially those from low-income backgrounds, cannot rely on a superhero to overcome this unacknowledged, systematic, and structural power imbalance.
Here’s the catch-22. If you have political control of public schools, you need teacher union influence in elections to protect employees from capricious actors. They exist because of political control over hiring and firing at schools. Teacher unions are creatures of this institution. And now that they are masters of local elections, they are desperate to preserve poolitical control of schools.
It is time to end this charade and recognize the limitations of school boards in effecting meaningful change in public education.
I hope that candidates for this administration will not fall for the logical fallacy that stronger school boards can improve public education. Only school choice can.
@LaurieA.Couture You have a nomination page like this (Moira Mills), not just a profile page? I checked again and can’t find the page at all.
TRUMPCARE IN PSHEP (PUBLIC SELF-HEALTHCARE EDUCATION PROGRAMS)
David Barton would be a great sec of education. He is one of the great historians of the founding era.
I can’t find if I do. I have been trying for three days to reach someone at Customer Service to help me with this. I followed your link and just voted for you!
Indeed, the scope of our influence in these important roles stretches far beyond Cabinet positions. It extends deeply into each Federal Department, where teams of dedicated individuals shape the policies that guide our nation. It’s heartening to hear of your commitment to electing a team of capable, like minded individuals within the education sector. Should I be granted the privilege of serving, I am eager to collaborate with those who bring diverse talents and perspectives, yet share a common vision for our future. Together, under God’s guidance, we can forge a path that upholds our shared values and fulfills our duty to better the nation. By uniting in this cause, we embody the very spirit of service and stewardship that is so vital to our country’s prosperity and to the nurturing of its soul.
Hi Moira,
I think I figured it out after receiving an email from Customer Service.
My name should show up in a day or two, they stated.
Laurie
