Teach Your Children Well

In his weekly address, the President talked about reforms in education. One point he made was that reform should happen from the bottom up, not from the top down. I could not agree more. In our school systems, only half of the money we spend on education makes it to the classroom. The rest is eaten up by administrative expenses. Much of this is providing the documentation required by federal agencies to assure continued funding. In other words, the school systems are spending a ton of money to make sure they get more money to do the paperwork to get more money.

This is yet another example of the disastrous effects of a "let George do it" mentality. As I have said before, Uncle Sam is a rotten parent. Depending on the government to care about the education of our children is a losing proposition. Government agencies are concerned about the operation and funding of the agency. The needs of the public are at the bottom of their list of priorities.

The answer is simple-parents. Those parents who do not take an active role in the education of their children are condemning their children to the good graces of a system which has proven time and again that they are not equal to the task. This applies not only to academic education but character education as well.

Character education is a parental responsibility. It requires not only teaching by lecture but teaching by example. We have recently seen yet another example of how looking for role models from politics, entertainment and sports is a losing proposition. If you want a role model for your children, don't look for one. Be one.

Teach your children well.

Best always
Brother Ron