'Dumbing down’ education

[white cloud]

Posted: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 12:15 am | Updated: 9:36 pm, Mon Apr 26, 2010.

By JON GATLIN, Mount Enterprise | 3 comments

Texas Gov. Rick Perry will not vie for some of the $3 billion in federal dollars designated for helping elevate education across our country. When asked about it recently in Austin, Perry said, “Regardless of the dollar amounts, I am not prepared to sell control of our state’s education system for any price. It could very well lead to the 'dumbing down’ of the rigorous standards we’ve worked so hard to enact over the past several years.”

Federal money is being provided to lift educational levels across the U.S., not to buy control. As far as “dumbing down” rigorous standards, it takes money to achieve those rigorous standards. Under Perry, we have fallen to the rank of 43rd among the states.
http://lufkindailynews.com/opinion/letters/article_881f93a6-51a5-11df-9ab9-001cc4c002e0.html

[onestepforward]

1. $3 billion dollars for our Texas students

thrown away over goodhair's personal politics. I guess he believes that this inspire more Texans to vote for him? I totally do not get it. ((sigh))

[mbperrin]

2. Perry's right for all the wrong reasons on this issue.

Here's a succinct list of the problems with the Race to the Top:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/educator-race-to-the-top-is-be.html

Educator: 'Race to the Top's' 10 false assumptions
My guest today is Marion Brady, veteran teacher, administrator, curriculum designer and author. He writes about Education Secretary's Arne Duncan's "Race to the Top" initiative, which is intended to be the successor to "No Child Left Behind."

By Marion Brady
"Race to the Top? National standards for math, science, and other school subjects? The high-powered push to put them in place makes it clear that the politicians, business leaders, and wealthy philanthropists who’ve run America’s education show for the last two decades are as clueless about educating as they’ve always been.

If they weren’t, they’d know that adopting national standards will be counterproductive, and that the "Race to the Top" will fail for the same reason "No Child Left Behind" failed—because it’s based on false assumptions.



Rest at link.

[sonias]

3. Perry has already suceeded

Or as Perry would pronounce it "seceded" in "dumbing down" the education of Texas students.

The writer of the letter is spot on.