Saturday, February 28, 2015

From the President

So...I'm a registered Democrat and, therefore, I get these clever e-mails boasting about this or that or condemning that or this. Often they're signed by the President or his wife or the Vice-President, though we all know they may not have even read them. And they address me by my first name: "George," they'll start out "It's been a breakthrough year for America" And they invariably end with something like "We need your help now more than ever, George...If you're with me, then commit to making a recurring donation to Democrats before midnight..."

I'm guessing that Republicans get these sort of messages too. And they probably address the recipient by his or her first name. "Sarah," they'll start out "It's been a tragic year for America" And likely end with something like "We need your help now more than ever, Sarah...If you're with me, then commit to making a recurring donation to Republicans before midnight..."

I regard it all as something of a wash. Everything is reduced to  one or the other end of the political spectrum.

But this past week I got one that was about my favorite blogging subject: education. It was from Barack. (I figure we're on a first name basis now.) He started out by saying that "our high school students are currently graduating at an all-time high, and last year, our younger students posted the highest scores ever recorded in both math and reading." Sounds like we're doing something right, eh?

No. Somehow, he deemed this a failure and went on to say "I'm making the replacement of No Child Left Behind a priority." Does that mean it's not working, I wondered. 


He then said that we "need a better education plan -- one that cuts standardized testing to a bare minimum, invests in our preschools, and gives every kid in every corner of our country a fair shot." This was followed by announcing that he's "calling on Congress to pass a law that makes this vision of a brighter tomorrow for our sons and daughters a reality." 

"This plan" he said "is just common sense," one of the phrases that everyone loves, but has no idea what it means.

 
And that was followed by the usual request for a donation.

As you may know from reading my earlier comments regarding Jeb Bush and the Federal Government's role in education, I am not in favor of it. 

But I figured I should give the President an opportunity to fill me in. So I sent the following reply: 

    I am extremely offended by the message below. There is no
    way I am going to support a plan without knowing the details.
    “
a better education plan -- one that cuts standardized testing to a
     bare minimum, invests in our preschools, and gives every kid in every
     corner of our country a fair shot”
is not enough

    I have a Ph.D. in education and I maintain a blog on the subject.
    And I am a registered Democrat. Kindly send me (and anyone else 
    whose support you want) a copy of the plan so we can decide for
    ourselves if we want to endorse it.

As of this writing, there has been no reply. And I don't expect one. And as for his
vision of a brighter tomorrow for our sons and daughters, I'd like to point out that there's a slim line between a vision and a hallucination and I'm worried that he may have slipped over it.


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