http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20050921.shtml
This would apply even to foriegn aid and many other activities.
I believe in having a democratic constitution, which we are lucky to have inheritted in this country. I also believe in the people changing it. I oppose, however, violating the constitution as an alternative to the difficult work of changing it.
I like some of the things that our federal government does. But I think that some of those things are unconstitutional. Rather than ignore the constitution, I would like to ammend it.
4 comments:
Please, do tell: What would be your chosen ammendments?
I once heard Tavis Smiley say that he spoke at an educational conference and asked what the nation would be like if there were a constitutional ammendment guaranteeing an equal high quality education to all American citizens and their children.
I thought that was a great idea, but haven't heard him or anyone else say anything about it since.
If all children (and adults) were guaranteed the same high quality education regardless of class, race, region, or income level, you might really start to see a true leveling of the playing field. All schools should be funded equally regardless of the income of a neighborhood's residents and each school ;should have highly qualified teachers and great facilities, not just the rich folks.
What say ye?
I oppose the concept of a government guarantee to provide anything, except an opportunity for people to get things for themselves, and the government to stay out of their way, and to invervene to prevent people from interfering with each other.
I think that one of the problems with the education system in the US is the pervassive belief that education is something that other people give you, rather than education being something that you acquire for yourself.
The poor school districts have no problem fielding top-notch sports teams that beat the pants of the wealthy schools. Thus I am certain that funding is not the issue.
I oppose the notion of K-12 education resulting from government programs. I support using tax money taken from rich people spent to ensure that poor kids have access to education. I think that vouchers is the best way to achieve this.
You oppose the government providing anything? Then do you oppose public schools?
In my mind, a constitutional ammendment guaranteeing educational equal opportunity for all citizens would ensure that poor kids get the same opportunities that rich kids do - meaning better books, better teachers, better curriculum.
You're already complaining about your daughter's public school. Certainly she has a leg up on other students because she has a parent who is heavily involved in her education.
But should parents and students be forced to "overcome" their schools' deficiencies or be bussed or driven to other neighborhoods to get an average quality education? Why can't we force those neighborhood schools to provide the same quality education that the suburban schools do? Why can't we force them to have the same quality as private schools?
Vouchers simply make it easier for parents to give up on a broken system. Fix the damn system!
Nadir: I oppose taxing everybody and creating a single government school system, rather than providing all parents access to this money in the form of vouchers. Thus, I support for K-12 what we have for college. I do support the government creating schools to compete for these vouchers, just as we have amoungst colleges.
If I had access to a voucher, I would have the option of sending my kid to a private school. On the other hand, if I had access to vouchers, my designated government school might be just as good as a private school, in the same way that UM-AA is as good as Stanford.
And as we have with the university system, all education is not guaranteed to be equal for everybody. The more money people have, the "more" they are able to purchase. However, even the poorest kid in the US has access to the great university system here, and with work can ultimately get the same education as a wealthy kid. Any attempt to make all US universities "equal" for all people would yield the usual socialistic results.
On a final note: US universities have many problems, though most of these problems involve students choosing to major in unworthy subjects. For students who trouble themselves to select intellectual majors, American college students generally get a great education. America's K-12 students should have it so well.
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