With the current economy in some bad shape, the federal, state and local community budgets are getting a hard look around the country.  Of course, government officials pay is not up for debate, however, as usual, education is the target of several budget cuts at all levels.   How, during a time when we rank behind most developed countries, can we continue to hobble the future of our youth?  In 2008, we had a 77% graduation rate from high school, which is below most other developed countries in the world.  Specifically we ranked below average in science and mathematics compared to other developed countries around the globe.

There was a time when we lead the world in education and education leads to innovation.  How do we get back to that point again?  Well, I will tell you how we don’t do it, by not teaching math and science more in high school.  Currently most high school curricula only requires 2 years of math and 2 years of science, but require 3 years of Social Studies and 4 years of English & Literature.  Increase the requirement across the board for math and science in all four years of high school.   This will help start the leveling process and bring our country back to the front as a global leader.   The only true roadblock preventing this is the math and science teachers are already in short supply.  Then again, why should science and math majors take on a teaching job with salaries that barely keep a family feed when they can get better jobs using their skills at private companies?  But that is an entirely new rabbit hole altogether Alice.

Let’s talk about the present budget cuts.  What do we do about current economic restrictions on our schools?

For one, we can cut or suspend any sports or extra-curricular activities that do not produce revenue for the school and earns enough to pay for itself.  There are enough leagues in communities to keep kids active in sports and recreation and some are funded by the taxpayer.  Why should the taxpayer continue to do so at the school as well.  A school’s #1 priority should be academics, period.  Academic programs should be the last thing to be looked at for cuts.

High schools can start providing online courses for more classes.  More online courses can mean less classroom space required, meaning smaller school buildings and less transportation requirements, which in turn leads to a decrease in administrative and logistical overhead involved in operating the school system.  Use of online learning is mainstream now in most colleges and even the corporate training environment, so why not get the students used to this form of learning ahead of time.

Institute standardized testing across all schools with either national or regional accreditation similar to college.  Make the testing criteria on par or greater than the rest of the world’s standards.  Hold teachers AND parents accountable for below average results.

We need to eliminate teacher tenure.   If a teacher doesn’t preform it is time for them to go and their time on the job shouldn’t be a consideration, their performance should be.  Not sure about you, but if I produce substandard results I would be asked to hang it up at work and look for a new place of employment.

Parental accountability in the schools is a tough issue that I struggle with regularly for ideas.  Parents need to be held accountable in some way, shape or form.  We have compulsory attendance laws that require parents to send their kids to school and if they don’t, they can face legal troubles.  That said, that child’s attendance in school is paid for by the taxpayers.  Shouldn’t the taxpayer get their money’s worth?  Should parent’s and the children be held accountable for wasting taxpayer dollars?   Should we have compulsory attendance at all?  These are questions, like I said, we need to chew on more because there would be, without a doubt, ramifications to our communities.

Develop A&B class schedules more similar to college schedule where the students only have 4-5 classes a day, but spend almost an hour and a half in each class.  This gets them more quality time with the material and teacher and better prepares them for higher level education.

All of the above will lowers costs, increase our competitiveness in the global market, provide metrics to gauge teacher and student performance on a national scale, give us smaller classrooms and better prepare students for college and the business world.

So, instead of downgrading our education in these economically hard times, we should be taking the time to upgrade the system, challenge students, teachers and parents alike.

Just as a side note, if you are reading this, you should read about DoDDs schools.  They are a great system and ironically, they don’t fall under the Department of Education

America is not about a piece of land that sits between Canada and Mexico. It is an idea. An idea that was recorded on papers like the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. America is an idea shared by millions of immigrants who over the years have made their way to that piece of land to share that idea with others. America is anywhere this idea takes root and starts to spread.

Let’s start with a little biology lesson, or is it physiology, not sure, but here we go. What are stem cells? They are essentially cells that regenerate tissue over a lifetime of that cell. I think any reasonable person, with half a brain, can see the value in researching the potential of stem cells. I truly believe even opponents of stem cell research, specifically embryonic research, can agree that the research has huge potential.

So what is the big deal? Well, it comes down to religious ideology. Opponents view embryonic stem cell research and abortion in the same light. They view it as the taking of a human life. We won’t turn this into an abortion argument, for now, but suffice it to say I totally disagree with the comparison. However, I do agree that there are ways to research other types of stem cells besides totipotent cells, which is what embryonic cells are. However, none of them, according to most experts, seem to have the potential of embryonic cells.

I completely understand the reservations and opposition against creating embryos just for the sake of research. I really do, and I don’t necessarily like the idea either. The problem is that there are already embryos available that are created through in vitro fertilization that will be wasted anyway, if they are not used by the donors. Why let those embryos existence be wasted? There is no sense in it at all.

Besides cells available through the in-vitro, the cells can also be harvested from amniotic tissue. This tissue is left over after ever child is born. The idea of donating that material as an addition to or as an alternative is very much a reality as there are labs already set up to harvest and store amniotic tissue for stem cell research.

In the end, I look at it in the sense if the embryo already exists and it will be “wasted”, why not let it go for a good cause to give life to another child who is dieing or crippled. Why is the medical profession not harvesting wasted amniotic tissue and participating more actively in stem cell research in this way which does not harm embryos. In fact through a child’s birth, another child could be saved.

Now my biggest problem is that this is once again being challenged, but the challengers are “scientists” who are seemingly challenging, not on scientific merit, but on financial grounds. They want federal funding for embryonic research to go to their own research. Pure greed in my eyes. The other issue I have is the hypocrites who say that embryonic search is immoral and takes away human life. By not allowing this research to take place, are we not denying the opportunity of life to others?

Stem cell research can be a very controversial topic, but it doesn’t have to be with some application of common sense. It can be a very touchy topic, but these are my thoughts and I hope you will be willing to share yours.

Well, it has been a while since I blogged regularly about anything, almost 2 years I believe. Sometime ago I started this blog to get back into the swing of things and never did. One of the reasons is I spread myself too thin across various websites created and never had the time. Recently, however, I just dropped a great deal of those websites completely and will now be focusing on my core websites that are a part of Brochin.net, to include this one.

Now over the next few weeks, I will try and hit a current news topic and just spill my guts on it. No white washing, political correctness. I encourage anyone and everyone to join in a communicate, argue or just say “Hi” when leaving comments. Nothing will be edited or deleted unless found to be hateful to a particular race, greed, color or sex.

Anyway, I have posted a couple of my opinionated comments on Facebook recently and plan on discussing further here for all on the world wide web to share and read.

Hope you enjoy!

Received the below e-mail from my sister Emma today. Priceless.

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Subject: There is hope….
I recently asked my  friends’ little girl what she wanted to  be when she grows up. She said she wanted to  be President some day. Both of her parents,  liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I  asked her, If you were President what would be  the first thing you would do? She replied,  I’d give food and houses to all the homeless  people..

Her parents beamed with  pride.

Wow…what a worthy goal. I told her,  But you don’t have to wait until you’re  President to do that. You can come over to my  house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my  yard, and I’ll pay you $50.  Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where the  homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the  $50 to use toward food and a new house.

She  thought that over for a few seconds, then she  looked  me straight in the eye and  asked,  Why doesn’t the homeless guy  come over and do the work, and you can just pay  him the $50?

I said, Welcome to the  Tea Party.

Her parents still aren’t speaking  to me.

IN GOD WE  TRUST

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