This is the idea behind the entire Federal structure of this country envisioned by the Founding Fathers.
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What is this obsession with a bunch of men who lived hundreds of years ago? The year is 2010 - do we really want to revert to the 18th century?Incidentally, whatwas the literacy rate back in those days?

I am all FOR national standards in math, sciences, reading.
AND : they better be competitive with standards that are taught in best Chinese and Indian schools. How are we going to become competitive in the world if some kids are taught on the world level and other kids somewhere in Arkansas or Alaska come out of school knowing nothing?
All kids, independent of their parents or local politicians level of idiocy deserve to learn and should not be victims of, again, their parents ignorance or local politicians ego-driven power struggles. ( sorry if this sounds like a slogan....I just feel bad for those kids every day)

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Happy New Year to all! Virtual hugs!

seriously, how is this different from "zhit' kak zaveschal velikij Lenin"?
because Lenin was not великий..Dah!!! :-| and the founders were...obviously it's not clear to many..

well.. this country was built on the foundation of what the founding fathers put in place..
the reason we all came here was because we like this foundation and that does include capitalism...

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

"How do you expect the nation to function together with possibly different educational standards? Koran in one district? Talking snake in the next over? Evolution in the third?"

How did this nation function prior to 1979????

If someone, anyone can demonstrate that the quality of education has improved since 1979, when "D of E" came into existance - I will wholeheartedly will support this yet another federal expansion.

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Новые фотки - у дочери на дне рождения. 16 лет. Very BIG DEAL !!!

Ира, специально для вас.
10 заповедей.
I am the Lord your God *
You shall have no other gods before me *
You shall not make for yourself an idol *
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy *
Honor your father and mother *
You shall not murder *
You shall not commit adultery *
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor *
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife *
You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor
Hope you can deal with this and will not evaporate from reading it.(ch)

No one is putting the Founding Fathers on the pedestal as GODS!!!

That's prepostereous. However, the system they advocated, articulated and put in place has been the most successful system of governance in the history of namkind. IMHO.

Despite years and continuous effort of progressives (both Republican and Democrats with possible exception of Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman) to dismantle it over the last 60-70 years.

These years have been characterized by constant intrusion of Federal Government into areas of American life where ithad no business to be and where Founding Father never intended it to be. Like education.

But now many people are beginning to wake up and see what's going on. There are many of us. We are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore.

Just wait till November!!!! Heads are gonna roll. In a non-violent sort of way.....

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Новые фотки - у дочери на дне рождения. 16 лет. Very BIG DEAL !!!

The Federal Government was never meant to participate in the affairs (such as education) that are clearly domain of the states.

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according to their own website, their involvement is somewhat limited...
"the Department does not
establish schools and colleges; develop curricula; set requirements for enrollment and graduation; determine state education standards; or develop or implement testing to measure whether states are meeting their education standards."
It engages in four major types of activities:Establishes policies related to federal education funding, administers distribution of funds and monitors their use. Collects data and oversees research on America's schools. Identifies major issues in education and focuses national attention on them. Enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination in programs that receive federal funds.

If someone, anyone can demonstrate that the quality of education has improved since 1979, when "D of E" came into existance - I will wholeheartedly will support this yet another federal expansion
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well, they didn't exactly come into existence in 1979 - the department of health, education, and welfare was just divided into the department of education and the dept of health and human services. And according to wiki "It is by far the smallest Cabinet-level department, with about 5,000 employees." The educational system in the United States is still highly decentralized compared to most other countries, which might explain why we're still lagging behind.

Establishes policies related to federal education funding,
this is the key "activity" - if the states don't follow the policies-requirements, they don't get the funds..which are actually the money the residents of the states have been taxed by federal government..once the laws as the NCLB pass, the states have no other choice but to comply..
and btw, it's really surprising how people here, who claim to love education, don't understand the principles of our government..yes, our Founding Fathers have set up principles to amend our system and Constitution, but they set it up in a way, so, it's done very cautiously with the overwhelming majority support, not just jamming things through just because it feels right..