Maggie's Farm

We are living in a 'shrinking' world. The United States is no longer the World Superpower it once was, difficult as that may be to hear. In order to interact with the rest of the world, which is quickly rising to our level, even surpassing our dominance in many areas, we must do so decently, without arrogance.

Learning a second language, and studying it in as a young adult, helps citizens to learn about these other cultures and societies - something that is difficult to instill in younger children with unsophisticated worldviews.

It's silly that English is not the official language in our nation - it SHOULD be, and everyone who lives or visits here should learn to speak it, naturally. Though who Marianne refers to as the "multicultural" party, I am not sure. (The phrase "the yard guys," by the way, is blatantly racist, and I'm NOT being overly PC, and neither is Steve.)

I think this article, however, is quite a leap from the facts. Obama's pledge to "put the full resources of the federal government behind [his] plan" is not nationalization; it's federal support of the public schools. ANY help is wanted. Imagine what we could achieve if our schools were given US Military funds - resources that states just can't afford?

When Obama says "political will," the author is only GUESSING that he means "provoking the will of the people to give the federal government the authority to educate America's children." However, the author shamelessly implies that he has the authority to speak for the Senator and predict that the Senator's "Department of Education will manage one large, nationwide, public school district with a unified federal budget." That's mere speculation, and if it's based on anything the senator has said, it's certainly not based on words from "Our Kids, Our Future," in which Barack Obama said, "We must provide the funding we were promised, and give our STATES the resources they need."

Us. The resources come from us. But we're already paying for a massive military budget. Might as well switch some of it over to education because, no, I don't think our schools suffer from "surplus of resources," and it's pretty ridiculous to think that. The military has done very well for itself, but where has it gotten us? We could be just as safe with a huge defense budget cut, and raise our children to be more competitive and capable, training them in technologically advanced fields, paying for alternative programs, such as projects to help 'at risk' kids and keep them in schools, or alternate education programs like Ombudsman, Connections, or other "minischool" options. These programs aren't expensive, but schools just don't have room in the budget for them. Alternative programs, I think, are becoming a necessity for America because, let's face it, children aren't best served by getting stamped out of a machine. It's hard for kids to grow up and "try my best to be just like I am" when the school system encourages them not to, because they don't have a budget for anything but "Algebra 2" and "U.S. Government."

Nah, just the military. It's not other people's money. It mine. It's OURS. It's being frivolously spent. Why not try a shift of power from arms to education? It's not complicated, and it's not going to cost us a single extra dime.