Jobs. Education Means Jobs.

Well, today is the day the new congress gets sworn in. The Republicans will once again control the House of Representatives. It seems to be a seesaw event. I guess the American people keep hoping one party or the other will actually do the right thing. So far in recent history there's little celebration. It's been decades since Congress has truly tried to do the "right thing". So, if the Republicans would like my opinion, and I'm certain they don't, it would be to put America back to work. There's to parts to that request. First, in the near term, Americans would like to have a job. Now I don't mean minimum wage flipping burgers, I'm talking about meaningful, good paying jobs. You know, the kind we've been exporting to China and India and a few other countries.. That's for right away. But at the same time we need for our educational system to get back to what it was thirty or forty years ago. So what's wrong with it now? After all, the folks who have lots of money can still get their kids into good schools and get them good jobs, can't they? Well then what's the problem? I hear rich people say "I made it on my own, why can't the rest of you do the same"?  I heard some very knowledgeable people state that the ultra-rich don't consider themselves Americans or French or Saudi or Brazilian or etc. They consider themselves citizens or residents of the world. So they don't really care about the needs of Americans or French or Brazilians etc. They're only interested in where the money is this minute. Well, that's nice for them, but we Americans need to be concerned with what it will take to get ourselves back on top or we'll wind up near the bottom. The only way for us to do that is to improve our educational system. If that means we need to scrap the educator's unions then so be it. If it means we need to spend more money on education then so be it. If we need to find a way the get parents involved with their children's education, then by golly, let's kick some butt. And whether or not that means bigger government better not be a concern. I see teachers getting laid off all over the country. Is that the best way to improve our educational system? Maybe it is. If the ones getting axed are the underachievers, then I'm pleased, but I doubt that's what's happening. Seniority may be a good thing to protect. Tenure is probably a terrible thing to protect. But the ones we really need to be protecting are our best teachers. Those who don't fit that criteria need to be retrained or replaced.