Obama's administration has created a new game for states to play and today the Sweet '16' finalists were named. by Gary Wood
(conservative)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
One of the saddest things I have seen in recent memory was an announcement of the 16 'finalists' in the Obama Administration's 'Race to the Top' competition for federal education dollars. Our country has sunk to a new low in many ways the proponents of this scheme are not revealing.
This competition for your tax dollars is yet another way sovereignty is lost, the Constitution is usurped, and states fall in line while people cheer. Making it a 'competition' stirs our human tendency toward cheering for winners and lambasting losers while onlookers do not question why states are participating, how your tax dollars can be used to fund a game of chance, and why a scoring system based on a single administration's agenda decides who gets the money earmarked for the education of America's children.
How much money has each state invested in the game of chance? Who is profiting from the application process? Why are your kids’ educations being put at risk for the amusement of politicians finding new ways to pull state strings? When will constitutional sanity come back to the United States? Will you cheer if your state 'wins' the money?
Today my hopes for constitutional restoration are a little lower then they were yesterday. Tears literally fill my eyes as I read the news reports that proclaim this event as some wonderful innovation. The Washington Post reported the following quote; "These states are an example for the country of what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. "Everyone that applied for Race to the Top is charting a path for education reform in America." Reform? Example?
When we are made to believe it is the federal government who sets the rules and states pay to play their game the reform created is tyranny. It is an example of how far citizens have fallen in our personal responsibility over the education of our children. This is like some carnival rolling into town with amusement rides to distract those attending from the theft built into their carnies’ games. Education Sector is a think tank that advised many states on their application, was that advice free?
There are states that are critically short of resources for education yet teaching associations and states spend money, time and effort on this chance to 'win' some federal spoils. A better use of dollars and time would besetting about the foundation for returning schools to local and state control, ending federal waste and mismanagement. This game is a scam; a scheme, a farce, and a fraud that will do nothing but further end freedom for our posterity. No states won today, all states lost as they will all lose again in April and June and as long as this carnival game is allowed to operate.
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in this article are those of Gary Wood only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
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As in the old movie War Games, the only way to win in the Race To The Top (RTTT) game is to not play. States and school districts have to pay to play by giving up a lot of autonomy to the Feds, whether or not any money is ever forthcoming. A better bet would be for these educational stakeholders to buy Lotto tickets on a regular basis.
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