RC>The primary objection to government intervention in
RC>education arises from the potential of government
RC>requirements regarding content and the perspective of that
RC>content. The easy way to avoid that is to limit government
RC>requirements to structure - as in mandating 4 years English
RC>and science, 3 years mathematics, etc - while leaving
RC>content and perspective to the local PTA and the local
RC>school board. 
 
       Yet this still leaves us with an array of issues that could be
resolved by allowing the private sector to operate our educational
systems.  Religion, of course, is a subject that is going to continue
to be controversial as long as we rely upon public schools.  Even if
community standards are allowed to become the local standard,
minorities, on both sides of this issue, are going to continue to
complain and be denied, no matter what is done, freedoms of exercise.
       There are also issues of language, of dress, of what is being
studied and how, of racial separation and forced integration, all of
which, along with a million other things that arise when choice is
absent, that will persist unless parents are really given free choices.
       As things are today, and realizing that we are a long way from
reaching a point where public faith in a fre market has been
sufficiently restored to allow a free market in education, I do favor
granting as much power as possible to local school districts and moving
away from the trend towards centralization of control, but I also
believe decentralization itself will fall short of attaining to goal of
providing the very best quality of education possible for our
children and still look towards a future when we will have the national
fortitude to put our best foot forward.
RC>Any testing should be done by an independent 3rd party
RC> - such as ACT, SAT, etc - and the test should simply rate
RC>one's ranking in the general population.
 
        I actually oppose national testing in any form.  There are
strong regional diiferences both in needs and in what is taught.  I
don't think we should compare area to area of even school to school.
These tests are increasingly becomming ends in and of themselves with
entire courses dedicated to learning how to take tests.  This, I
beleive, typifies the problem of government operated schools.
        Let performance, based upon the satisfaction of the parents of
atendees and those who benifited from the educations given speak for
itself.  Comparative tests only tell us who is best at taking tests and
nothing about the true quality of education that is actually being
given.
 
                                               /\/\ike
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