Wednesday Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Don't be surprised if Tim Walz is replaced at the DNC convention and this is couched as "you asked for this change now donate money.” Certain people are looking to milk this as much as possible before it ends... Daily Quests for the Magic of Life would be a good name for a blog or Substack account... I admit I laughed… Donald Trump says one of his first acts would be to end the Department of Education. Let me take this opportunity to remind people that my suggestion is to take the Department of Ed's budget (minus salaries and operating costs) and divide it by the number of kids claimed as dependents on tax returns and that's what each child would receive to help fund their education. Each state could then decide the best options for parents for spending that money (but remember that money would be only going to those parents) but each child would have to take an age appropriate standardized test and those results would be publicized widely... Reminder... Like the idea of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) instead being called Diversity, Inclusion and Equity because its a much more apt acronym... Two simple questions that could end Kamala Harris' presidential election bid. First question is when she started noticing Joe Biden was diminished by dementia and why she never invoked the 25th Amendment. The second question is didn't she take an oath to defend the borders of the USA but then turned around and supported open borders? Don't expect her to answer either question... Macy's plans to close about 150 stores nationwide. The specific stores haven't been announced but look for any local malls with a Macy's store may be affected and any publicly traded company with a large real estate portfolio in malls may also be affected... My suggestion for the Department of Education would have several benefits. The budget amount and headcount could be locked in and not increase without an act of Congress. Teaching methods that produce poor results would be widely publicized and mocked while those with superior results could be praised and copied. Win-win!... Yes let’s be honest and transparent!... Question has to be asked - what if potential replacements for Tim Walz all refuse the call because they see the Kamala Harris campaign as doomed to fail and don't want that stench on them? Might happen... Another benefit of my DOE suggestion would be that current employees of the Dept could independently verify that each child claimed is correct and every tax return that fraudulently claimed a dependent is sent to the IRS for a full audit. These recouped monies could then be used to reduce both the deficit and help raise the amount the remaining real students get for education. Another win-win... The future of memes in the EU?...
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By the way, you're quite right that the Dept of Education is a useless waste of taxpayers' money.
"Teaching methods that produce poor results . . ." If only it were that simple. For decades we have spent vast amounts of money on trying scores of different educational methods, everything from rote learning and strict discipline to open classrooms and "learning from the children." We have enlisted the most erudite, eminent educators and psychologists, not to mention out and out lunatics, to design more effective ways to teach our kids. And the result? Consistently declining test scores and high schools with a majority of students who can barely read.
The inconvenient truth here is that good educational results come from good students, not from the amount of money invested in the system. People discussing the issue are often unhappy at the fact that kids in countries like Finland and Korea score much higher on PISA tests than our kids do, even though they spend much less on education. What such people never seem to mention, though, is that those countries are full of Finns and Koreans. That's what makes the difference.