A Teachable Moment in Wisconsin

When K-12 education vouchers are universal across this country, when the unconstitutional government education monopoly is broken and the Department of Education is thrown into the trash bin of history where it belongs, when all unfunded federal mandates are abolished, when all 50 states are "right to work" states, when there is true free market competition that forces schools to compete for students, when teachers are paid based on merit instead of seniority, children will then be taught HOW to think instead of WHAT to think and America's education system will be the envy of the world once again.

Instead of rewarding mediocrity we should reward excellence. Students taught under the current system are not prepared for life in the real world (private sector) where there is competition for not only entry-level jobs but also for advancement through promotion based on accomplishment. Our current graduates are only now prepared to take their places in the ever growing unionized public sector where achievement is discouraged, and to distinguish yourself from the person in the next cubicle is selfish and capitalistic (heaven forbid).

It is no wonder that the private sector isn't hiring, our public schools aren't graduating anyone worth even the "minimum" wage. A free market education system will teach individual responsibility and accountability instead of entitlements and victimization. A free market education system will encourage the development of "self-esteem" through achievement. It will teach that respect in the workplace is earned through effort, not awarded as a trophy for just showing up.

Since the 60's when God was replaced in the classroom by "Secular Humanism" and "Cultural Relativism," the progressives have insisted on the equality of outcomes instead of the equality of opportunity. This has resulted in the continual de-emphasis of "Natural Rights" (rights that come from our Creator), versus those bestowed on us by a benevolent big government (that can just as whimsically take them away).

Science, Math, Reading, Writing, and History, have been replaced by sex education, diversity, multiculturalism, feminism, and a host of other "fill in the blank - studies" which have no social or economic relevance in the workplace and serve to divide people, rather than to unite them. "E Pluribus Unum" is considered no longer appropriate to the so-called enlightened elitists who run our failing government bureaucracies.

The evidence of the failure of big government is all around us: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Amtrack, the Postal Service, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and yes, the Public Education System. All of these programs are either bankrupt or failing miserably despite the appropriation and redistribution of Trillions of hard earned tax dollars over the last 50 years.

Well, the “big government party” (both Republicans and Democrats) has finally run out of other people's money. The states (like Wisconsin, Ohio, and New Jersey) have realized that unlike the Federal government, they can't print money or borrow it from the Chinese Communists leaving the bill to unborn generations to pay. The states must and will cut spending and thus promote economic prosperity generating more taxpayers and higher tax revenue. A rising tide will lift all boats. Perhaps Washington will then get the message and do the same. As John Adams once said "facts are stubborn things."