How dare you cover actual news?

Mitt Romney - get used to him.

Roland Martin - a putz, but not so much because of this. If some guy at my Super Bowl party was waxing enthusiastic about that Beckham ad, I might smack him, too. Roland Martin does not equal Jack City whatcha call 'em.

No Child's Behind Left Untouched - Why exempt certain states? Rescind this idiot law and dissolve the federal Dept. of Education. Get rid of it. Why should Washington control what goes on in your neighborhood school?

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"Why should Washington control what goes on in your neighborhood school?"

is that what you think the DEd does? without looking it up, what do you think their primary mission is?

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While Mitt may be dull, wasn't it Garrison Keillor who said the Republican primary is fascinating because it pits a Mormon against a polygamist?

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It doesn't matter what their mission statement writ in some lofty bill language is.

They dictate policy to every government school system in the country by using federal money as a cudgel. There should be no controlling education authority higher than the state level.

Without looking it up, I would say their primary mission is to fill your head full of nonsense. What a success!

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"It doesn't matter what their mission statement writ in some lofty bill language is."

this is probably the most concise explanation of your worldview possible

'it doesn't matter what the LAW says! i know the TRUTH in my HEART'

"They dictate policy to every government school system in the country by using federal money as a cudgel."

uh, no

before NCLB (thanks bush) DEd only organized federal student loans, collected statistics on a national level, and ensured equal access to education (special ed, disabilities etc.)

even after NCLB (thanks a lot, bush) DEd only provides federal funding to states, for state disbursement, for teaching state curricula, if they meet state standards

of course they could always refuse the federal money, but one of the hallmarks of soft-brained anti-government types is that their anti-government principles never ever prevent them from taking money from the evil nanny state

"There should be no controlling education authority higher than the state level."

what if i told you that DEd only interacts with state agencies, and only because of NCLB? would that change your mind at all? no of course not, facts are irrelevant in the face of ideology

"Without looking it up, I would say their primary mission is to fill your head full of nonsense. What a success!"

people who hate education and yet say things that are so obviously wrong and ignorant? truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to make sense

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also: mitt romney can't even fend off rick santorum, professional crazy, in a limp-dicked primary. this is awesome

thanks, teabaggers! your insistence on reality-avoiding political purity has irrevocably fucked the republican nomination. the only thing that can save romney now (when he finally limps over the finish line) is the billionaire establishment and their limitless pots of advertising money who will plaster 'Obama is a Kenyan!' all over every available NASCAR vehicle

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All of that should make you happy.

While you are so giddy over the Repub clusterfuck, take a moment to list the great accomplishments of the federal DEd.

* crickets *

And don't blame it on Bush. He's a Johnny-Come-Lately with his misguided No Child's Behind contribution. Explain to anyone bored enough to be looking at this why it should even exist and why we have at least two generations who can't make change if the cash register breaks.

It's enforcement responsibilities could be handled by the Dept of Justice. It is a waste of money and an excuse for a giant money sucking bureaucracy.

Oh, and this is a good one. Criticizing the state of academia and the education bureaucracy equals hating education. Are you a wanna be prestidigitator with that somewhat less than nimble misdirection?

I don't hate education, but I am annoyed when people are educated beyond their capacity.

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"take a moment to list the great accomplishments of the federal DEd. "

pell grants, subsidized loans, increased access to loans for minority borrowers, etc.

but then again you don't think poor people are deserving of college unless bootstraps or some other anti-social randian nonsense

"And don't blame it on Bush. He's a Johnny-Come-Lately with his misguided No Child's Behind contribution. Explain to anyone bored enough to be looking at this why it should even exist and why we have at least two generations who can't make change if the cash register breaks."

you don't know what you're talking about. as usual

DEd exists in order to centralize the federal government's role in the educational system. the government has an interest in making sure its citizens are well educated. just like how the government invests in public infrastructure like roads, it also invests in social infrastructure - making sure people can read, are fed, etc.

it's really easy for people completely ignorant of social history to ignore the dramatic impact that centralized, efficient, public education has on society. i'd also bet dollars that you're hypocritically going to engage in DEd programs when it comes time to shuffle your kids off to college, without even recognizing the public benefits you recieve

if you want to blame kids for being stupid, you should blame state and local educational policy - which has nothing to do with the DEd. your local school board and the DEd are not in collusion to make your kids retarded, no matter how much you would like to shift the blame

"It's enforcement responsibilities could be handled by the Dept of Justice. It is a waste of money and an excuse for a giant money sucking bureaucracy."

in an alternate universe you're whining about the DoJ being too big

there's really no way to justify the concept of social investment to a card-carrying government hater

"Oh, and this is a good one. Criticizing the state of academia and the education bureaucracy equals hating education. Are you a wanna be prestidigitator with that somewhat less than nimble misdirection?"

you don't hate education? you just want to cripple equitable american access to education and make it much more difficult for people to attend college based on completely uninformed anti-government ideology. silly me, i can totally see where i made a mistake judging your motives!

"I don't hate education, but I am annoyed when people are educated beyond their capacity."

it's obvious you don't like people who are smarter than you, because they tend to pop your worldview bubble with inconvenient facts

you should work on personal improvement though, rather than trying to bring the rest of us down to your level

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but really dude

"And don't blame it on Bush. He's a Johnny-Come-Lately with his misguided No Child's Behind contribution."

the fact that you could even type this unironically indicates that you don't know anything about federal educational policy except what neil boortz tells you to believe

NCLB was a dramatic overreach and actually for once justified the breathless republican paranoia that has surrounded public education policy since the johnson years. and NCLB was passed by a republican president, with a republican congress!!

so really this is just a manifestation of starve the beast, where the GOP deliberately sabotages government simply so their hater base can puff up on I Told You So. and the rest of us suffer for it

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"NCLB was a dramatic overreach"

At least we agree on something.

"DEd exists in order to centralize the federal government's role in the educational system."

Exactly...the problem. Centralization and control is what gives chubbies to your team, though, in'it?

"it's obvious you don't like people who are smarter than you"

I admire people who are smarter than I am, not people who think they are smarter than I am, but who are dense enough to believe that collectivism will someday actually work.

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"At least we agree on something. "

yes, even if you continue to ignore historic fact and not recognize that it's a republican program which eventually justified republican fears about big government intrusion

"Exactly...the problem. Centralization and control is what gives chubbies to your team, though, in'it?"

yes. i am sexually aroused by a properly functioning government, rather than immature Red Dawn fantasies about self-reliance

"I admire people who are smarter than I am, not people who think they are smarter than I am, but who are dense enough to believe that collectivism will someday actually work."

the very fact that you conflate bureaucracy with collectivism indicates that you operate on a fantasy-based view of society

it's just a shame that you're too myopic to appreciate or understand the system which has nurtured you your entire life. oh well, being spoon fed anti-government rhetoric to satisfy your inherent need to be outraged and scared is one of the ironic luxuries of our modern society

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oy: Did you suggest that federal money should be given with no strings attached?

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I'm suggesting that federal money for education should not be collected and distributed. It should be a state function. I realize this would mean some good and some bad state systems. I'm a 10th amendment guy, so sue me. Is education really so much better since the Washington got involved? Other than ensuring equal access, I say no.

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