Show notes
As Thomas Jefferson remarked to James Madison, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people…They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” Yet the U.S. Constitution does not address education directly, and there is much disagreement around how we, as a nation, should ensure both the quality and equality of our education system. The Policy Circle brief up for discussion this week is Education K-12, and Sylvie and Beth tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our education system. Do we need a Federal Department of Education, or should the question of how best to educate children be left entirely to the states? How should educational funding be spent, and how can we ensure equity in the distribution of that funding? Why do our national test scores rank so far behind other countries? How can we, as individual citizens, help fix these and other problems in our educational system? We hope you’ll read along, and start a discussion of your own.
Beth Feeley is a freelance writer, editor, and communications strategist in Wilmette, Illinois, working mainly for nonprofit organizations. She served as launch director for 1776 Unites at the Woodson Center. She is also the co-leader, along with Sylvie Legere, of the Rose Friedman Society Policy Circle. Her work has been published in National Review Online and The Federalist. Beth also runs a local civic organization, New Trier Neighbors, which promotes common sense policies in local government. Beth lives in the north suburbs of Chicago with her husband and three children. She is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio (B.A.) and Northwestern University (M.S.).
https://1776unites.com/contributors/beth-feeley/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-feeley-132a8a61/
5:50 Historical overview of education in America
16:31 Educational spending vs. results
23:00 Funding gaps across schools
26:10 U.S. student performance as compared with other countries
30:30 Teaching quality matters: teacher performance & pay
40:10 The real story behind declining teacher pay
44:00 Protecting the gains from early childhood education
48:30 Rural education - getting our national priorities online
49:30 Lifting the stigma on Technical Education
53:00 Combating summer loss & rethinking the school calendar
55:10 Who’s in charge of U.S. education?
1:00:30 How can we help? Principles of reform & what you can do to make a difference.
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