“In all seriousness, I think schools should be open 12, 13, 14 hours a day, seven days a week, 11-12 months of the year,” Duncan said. “This is not just more of the same. There would be a whole variety of after-school programs. Obviously academics would be at the heart of that. But you top it off with dancing, art, drama, music, yearbook, robotics, activities for older siblings and parents, ESL classes.”

Why is it that homeschoolers, who spend far fewer hours a day educating their children, outscore public school students on standardized tests? In my opinion the desire of Arne Duncan to expand the school day is not about increasing the quality of education, it’s more about decreasing the role of parents and their influence on their children. It’s very frightening to think of government schools having control of our children for 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, 11 or 12 months a year. It will certainly increase the opportunity for politically correct indoctrination and brainwashing.

Read full article at DailyCaller.com

How do you explain Barack Obama’s recent decision to eliminate vouchers for the public school students in the Washington D.C. area? Obama’s decision allows students currently enrolled in the voucher program to continue to receive federal funding until they graduate, but no additional students will be allowed to enter the program. The five-year school voucher program is scheduled to expire after the school year ending in June 2010.

The voucher program has proven successful, providing a better education at lower cost than the public schools.

“The program, with per-pupil costs that are a third of what D.C. public schools spend, is producing solid gains for the 1,700 predominantly poor and minority children it serves. Indeed, the first batch of children who received vouchers from the program for private schools is now 19 months ahead of its public school peers in reading–which is why there are four applicants for every available slot.”  Source: Forbes.com

Why eliminate the opportunity for these children to receive a higher quality education?

The only argument I’ve seen against it is that it only benefits a small number of students. Okay, so the answer is to force all the students to receive a poor education? Wouldn’t it be more logical to expand the voucher program, rather than eliminate it?

Could Obama’s decision have anything to do with the $50 million dollars contributed to his campaign by the teacher’s unions?

References:
Juan Williams, Fox News
Forbes.com