Parkes on Education
"Education is what preserves an enlightened society."
Charles Parkes III
No Child Left Behind has done more to destroy education in this country than improve it. As a parent of two high-functioning Autistic boys, working with public schools. Education must be lead from the classroom up not from admin down. Teachers need the maximum amount of freedom to meet the educational needs of the children and their parents. Parents should be the ones dictating what is taught to their children. Teachers should be able to teach to their strengths not required to teach just like everyone teaches. Diversity in classroom does not work with assimilation of the “most popular model”.
In addition, we must find a better means of paying for education than what is in place. Property tax forces the tax appraisers to artificially inflate property values. I feel that it is time for the Department of Education to give guidelines not dictate standards. We must return control of education to the local level, not maintained at the federal level and not even shared with the state-level.
But How?
We must work to tame the cost of education and find local, alternative sources of revenue to liberate local schools from outside standard. If you don’t take anything from the federal and state coffers then they have no power over you.
What about private schools?
Private schools and charter schools allow schools to specialize in a style of teach and the material taught. The problem is that they are too expensive for families that could use them. The cost of private school should be tax deductible up to 50% of their owed federal, state, or local income tax or $10,000 in tax credit, whichever is lower. As to financial aid for private school that doesn‘t involve government money, my door is open for suggestions.