Education

There is nothing more important to good parents than their children and even those who do not have children want tomorrow to be prosperous for future generations. We understand that to a large part our children's future is in their hands, but today we determine not only what they inherit, but how prepared they are to deal with what we pass on to them. To responsibly prepare them for the future we must give them the best education possible.

The "No Child Left Behind" program should be left behind.

We have some of the greatest educators of all time working in our schools today. Not only are they some of the best and brightest, but with the internet they have access to tools and curriculum never before imagined. "No Child Left Behind" forces our best and brightest educators to work confined in a system that focuses on a small number of basic skills while ignoring some of the skills and topics that made our country great.

While we can agree that Reading, Math and Science are important cornerstones of education, History, Writing and Language Studies are also required to prepare our youth for tomorrow. "No Child Left Behind" has left behind the importance of History, Writing and Language Skills.

America has a long history of being a land of innovators, inventors and creators, but we can not create imaginative minds for tomorrow with a cookie cutter education today.

So how do we better educate our children?

• By encouraging new and different ways of thinking and teaching
• By instilling responsibility in our children to work harder
• By letting our teachers be creative in their teaching methods and topics and taking notice when something works

Education innovation is exactly what "No Child Left Behind" discourages.

Education reform simply cannot work when done at the Federal level. The Federal Government creates mandates without funding, creates structure without instruction and forces regulation that hinders innovation.

Libertarians are not the only people who believe this. Not long ago the Republican Party called to eliminate the Federal Department of Education. Unfortunately today both major parties continue to increase regulation and big government programs that mandate how state and local school systems operate.

We all agree we that the best education for our children, but to allow for innovation, creativity and diversity it needs to happen at the state and local level. If elected I would call for the end of Federal Government involvement in education and the closure of the Federal Department of Education.

State and local governments, and more importantly our school teachers, will do much more for our children with that money than the Federal Government ever has. The founding fathers knew this when they gave us the 10th Amendment and it is as true today as it was 200 years ago.