Comments on: The Federal Role In Education http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/ With Help From Some Friends Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:43:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Maniel http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2556 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:13:51 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2556 Mr. Greene,
I agree with your premise that the federal government has limited insight into the mechanics and challenges of various local schools. I send my kids down the street to school. I hate sending my money – money that is needed here – to Washington to fund the latest idealistic scheme of the “well-intentioned.” You also make an excellent point that, as administrations change, any randomly successful federal program will be immediately overtaken by some new scheme. Education programs in Washington should be limited to teaching members of congress and the executive branch about the US Constitution and the fundamentals of economics; I am sympathetic that they were shortchanged themselves, but they are presumably adults and should become lifelong learners.

]]> By: Innovate Debate! | allJnD http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2461 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:42:59 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2461 [...] and now Jay Greene argue that Sara and I are, in Mike’s words, “claim[ing] that the federal government will [...]

]]> By: Jay P. Greene http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2457 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:39:20 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2457 Hi Catherine,

Sorry for the delay in answering your good questions. I am defining transparency broadly as simply information. If information about schools exist, then people can do research that examines what is effective and what is not. And information is always helpful to the consumer — of course assuming that consumers have choices. But consumers always have the choice of homeschooling, moving to another school district or paying for private school, even if there are significant financial barriers to those choices. Lastly, as Angelique mentioned, information can have political consequences by making more salient issues related to school quality.

]]> By: Angelique Lapeyre http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2452 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:42:27 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2452 Thank you for clarifying that argument and providing your own insights. I was having difficulty making sense of the nutshell version of the disagreement provided by both sides.

I liked your suggestion that the fed. gov’t's role should be data colletion (but not analysis) on pilot programs. By extension, I also agree that one of the best things to come out of NCLB are the data requirements. So long as there are transparent and detailed data on each school’s performance at the public’s fingertips, the inadequacies of public education are hard to ignore. I’ve come around to your thinking that states and local districts are better poised (and more nimble) to address the problems reflected in some schools’ dismal numbers.

]]> By: Innovate Debate! at More About Education http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2444 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:02:55 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2444 [...] and now Jay Greene argue that Sara and I are, in Mike’s words, “claim[ing] that the federal government will [...]

]]> By: Catherine Johnson http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2443 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:05:48 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2443 Terrifically helpful.

I’m curious about the role of transparency in these matters — to what degree does transparency act as a force for improvement?

In what areas?

And by what mechanism(s)?

This isn’t an expression of skepticism, btw. I’m very curious about this question & assume there’s an entire literature on transparency I have yet to come across.

]]> By: Eugene http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2436 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:49:34 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2436 Nice article. Thanks. :) Eugene

]]> By: Reason http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2434 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:39:13 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2434 Dr. Greene,

For someone attached to MI and well read in conservative and libertarian lit you are awfully sympathetic to centralized “federal” power. This is disconcerting. Ludwig Von Mises knew that totalitarianism was to some extent a product of public education wrote back in the 1920s:

“There is, in fact, only one solution: the state, the government, the laws must not in any way concern themselves with schooling or education. Public funds must not be used for such purposes. The rearing and instruction of youth must be left entirely to parents and to private associations and institutions.”

Is there any federalism left anyway? Can a Massachusetts nullify or reject any egregious mandate from Mordor D.C.?

]]> By: The Federal Role In Education | Schools online http://jaypgreene.com/2008/10/21/the-federal-role-in-education/#comment-2431 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:01:00 +0000 http://jaypgreene.wordpress.com/?p=1400#comment-2431 [...] and Andy are falling into old traps despite the best of intentions.  Mike argues that giving money Source Art and graphic design schools – [...]

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