I remember how it was -- JR
End Government’s Monopoly on Education
When every parent has a choice, every student has a chance.
Government schools, usually called public schools, too often have become places of indoctrination instead of learning. Good teachers too often can’t overcome a corrupt system. Former Vice President Mike Pence has an idea on what to do, because, he says, “The last thing America needs is a return to ‘normal’ in our public school classrooms.”
The COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test on public education that revealed fundamental flaws in the system that are deep, lasting, and likely to get worse.
Over the past year, Americans have seen teachers’ unions and education bureaucrats leverage the pandemic to score political victories and extort more money from taxpayers while lobbying to keep schools closed counter to CDC guidance. These efforts needlessly exacerbated and prolonged hardship for millions of students and families.
At the same time, online learning has allowed parents to peek into their child’s virtual classroom, where for the first time, they can see and hear everything their children are being taught. As a result, many parents are now rightly concerned that the primary mission of many public schools is no longer to educate America’s youth but to indoctrinate them with a radical left-wing political ideology.
The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the growing wokeness epidemic, created a perfect storm in America’s classrooms — forcing countless American families to flee in search of shelter elsewhere. The Census Bureau reports that homeschooling has tripled.
Likewise, many private schools have seen enrollment surge to record levels.
These are good changes and a silver lining to a very bad 18 months, Pence says. But there’s a lot more to be done. He proceeds to advocate for “child-centered funding models for education,” which send money with children to the school of their choice. He’s working for this at the advocacy group he founded, Advancing American Freedom.
Child-centered funding of education has never been more critical. During the pandemic shutdowns, wealthy families had the ability to bail out of public schools immediately and enroll in private schools that continued to hold in-person classes. But the vast majority of middle-class families and the working poor were left behind. True school choice can eliminate this gaping inequality in our society.
School choice also allows every family to escape the suffocating political indoctrination that has become all too common in our public schools, where science, history, and even math are increasingly taught through the lens of racial grievance, and children are taught to be ashamed of the color of their skin. School choice stops liberals from using our tax dollars to fill the minds of our nation’s youth with poisonous anti-American lies.
Pence concludes, “Decisions about a child’s education can have lifelong ramifications.” Those decisions should be made by parents.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/82879-in-brief-end-governments-monopoly-on-education-2021-09-22
*************************************************"Jobs-First" Higher Education Meets Students Where They Are
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported the number of job openings in our country increased to 10.9 million, a record high. At the same time, the U.S. is experiencing a labor shortage of historic proportions. The need to connect Americans to career mobility has never been greater, and yet our country's education and workforce systems have long lacked a true bridge between high school and upward career mobility after graduation, especially for students not immediately attending four-year universities.
As a result, many young adults – especially those from historically disadvantaged backgrounds – are facing an unfortunate dilemma: delay income and amass debt while working toward a traditional college degree, or put off education completely to take a low-paying job with limited chances for advancement.
But there is a way to address these enormous challenges – and now is the time to do so. Our country's government, higher education and business leaders must invest in a "jobs-first" higher education model and the requisite policies needed to ensure residents throughout the country can access it.
A "jobs-first" higher education model positions young adults on a path toward prosperity quickly and affordably. Young adults complete an industry-recognized credential that generates college credit while receiving career training and support that equips them with the professional skills to obtain their job, persist in it, and pursue a plan for ongoing education and career advancement.
In six months and with just a Pell Grant, a young adult anywhere in the country could attain a living-wage job – all while earning college credits that can be stacked into degrees over time.
Early examples of this work exist. In Ohio, Lorain County Community College's Fast-Track program offers short-term certificates that are tuition-free, generate credits that can lead to additional certificates or degrees, and come with a dedicated career coach and connectivity to employers.
Similarly, National Louis University – a nonprofit four-year college based in Chicago – is partnering with my nonprofit organization, Propel America, to blaze an even more ambitious trail, working to develop multiple credential-through-bachelor's degree pathways that offer a viable career ladder for prospective students under one institution's roof. These pathways – with one available now, and two more in 2022 – are not only Pell Grant-eligible, but ensure students have a seamless transition from credential to associate to bachelor's degrees.
To ensure programs like these are readily available to all Americans, we need all relevant stakeholders to take action. The federal government has a significant opportunity to bring about much-needed systemic change through public policy and executive action. Leaders could, for example, increase the Pell Grant amount and ensure Pell funding is flexible for short-term programs; continue to provide state and federal funding to support training and offset the opportunity cost of pursuing education, which includes factors like transportation, technology, food and child care; and create incentives for employers to cover the cost of continued higher education. New stimulus dollars are just one way to provide a solid foundation for these long-term investments.
Higher education leaders, too, must innovate to develop "jobs-first" academic pathways that align to employer needs, allow credits to transfer between institutions and articulate credits into higher degree offerings.
Finally, employers have an opportunity to change the game altogether. A commitment from employers – from the C-suite to human resource departments – to build new and diverse pipelines of historically overlooked talent is the first step. Employers can then get to the core work of reevaluating the competencies needed for their most in-demand, upwardly mobile jobs, shifting toward a skills-based hiring model and investing in creative on-ramps into jobs that include internships, apprenticeships and other project-based capstone activities.
A "jobs-first" higher education model introduces a paradigm shift that can benefit tens of millions of Americans. This is a moment for our policy leaders to work with the business community, forward-thinking institutions and training partners to boldly reimagine higher credentialing and career preparation in a new era.
The nation's economy and an entire generation of young people depend on it.
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Education Department Reimburses Florida School Officials Penalized for Defying Mask-Mandate Ban
The U.S. Department of Education has reimbursed several Florida school-board members who were financially penalized by the state government for defying the mask-mandate ban spearheaded by Republican governor Ron DeSantis.
School officials in Alachua County received $147,719 as compensation for the fines imposed by the Florida Department of Education, in a first instance of the Biden administration fulfilling its promise to help school districts counter DeSantis’s executive order with federal funds. Rather than prohibit masks, the governor’s directive leaves the decision to send children to school with masks at the discretion of parents, making the practice optional.
In addition to Alachua, ten other Florida school districts have required that students wear masks on campus, which the DeSantis administration has argued violates state law, therefore potentially warranting punishment.
DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw slammed the U.S. Department of Education’s intervention Thursday.
“Just a couple of months ago, the Biden Administration said that Florida would be violating federal requirements by providing $1,000 bonuses to teachers and principals. Therefore, it’s ironic that the federal government is now using taxpayer funding for education to pay the salaries of elected school board members, who made the decision to violate the law because they don’t believe parents have a right to choose what’s best for their children,” Pushaw told The News Service of Florida.
“We should be thanking districts for using proven strategies that will keep schools open and safe, not punishing them,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
In August, the Biden administration sent a letter to DeSantis suggesting that any school officials penalized over the state’s ban of mask mandates could be repaid with funds allocated through the American Rescue Plan.
“Any threat by Florida to withhold salaries from superintendents and school board members who are working to protect students and educators (or to levy other financial penalties) can be addressed using ESSER funds at the sole and complete discretion of Florida school districts,” it read.
https://news.yahoo.com/education-department-reimburses-florida-school-224700354.html
***********************************My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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