Various Republican Positions on Education

[KevinWan]

I haven't been on this forum in a while! I'm baaack..

Anyway... as a Republican, I find myself outside the mainstream of the party regarding the issue of education. There are many ways, from a Republican perspective, to view the issue. States' rights comes into play, as does equality of opportunity and limited government. I support the nationalization of the education system, in pursuit of equality of opportunity. But the mainstream of the party disagrees with me, favoring states' rights or limited government..

I wrote about the issue here. Read this, add to the debate or choose one of the arguments presented. Debate which is the best root for the Republican party to take on the issue.... Enjoy!

 

[Kandahar]

I support the nationalization of the education system, in pursuit of equality of opportunity.

The economic disparity WITHIN each state is much much greater than the economic disparity BETWEEN each state. That is, there's a lot less difference between a Connecticutter and a West Virginian, than there is between a rich West Virginian and a poor West Virginian. There is no state in our country that is too poor to provide a quality education for its citizens, if it adopts the right policies.

With that being said, states are clearly the best entity to provide quality education. Many local school districts simply don't have enough money to do this competently, and the federal government is too bureaucratic to do this.

Also, allowing the states to decide on their own education policies will allow a Darwinian natural selection process. Every state will be able to do as it pleases, and compare their results to other states with other education policies. Thus, the good policies will survive and spread to other states, while the bad policies will quickly be weeded out. If education is nationalized, this will not happen because there will be no basis for comparison.