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Why does Rand Paul hate the Department of Education?

Ohanian Comment: Rand Paul may well espouse despicable policy, but it wouldn't be difficult for him to know more about the US Department of Education than does Alex Parene. who writes about politics for Salon.com. You can write Parene: aparene@salon.com
Or you can make a comment at the url below. So far, most of people commenting don't know anything about federal education policy and practice either. Like most online commentators, they just use the space for a stream-of-conscious soapbox rant that may or may not have anything to do with the issue at hand.

Current federal education policy drives progressives into the uncomfortable position of being very close to wing nuts on certain education issues.

Okay,this item isn't worth posting. I let myself be provoked by Pareene's pompous declaration: Well, first of all, the Department of Education is already prohibited by law from deciding on matters of curricula.

Well, first of all, the Common Core standards and testing will totally engulf all "matters of curricula. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, right arm of the U. S. Department of Education, financed the promulgation of the Common Core, and the U. S. Department of Education, using money laundered from the tax dollars we ship off to the Feds every year, just gave $170 million to PARC and $160 million to SBAC for the tests on the Common Core that will test kids on the Common Core contents all the time. And, Mr. Parene, tests drive the curriculum. These new tests will drive it all the time.

By Alex Pareene


Why, exactly, does GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul want to shut down the US Department of Education? It's a tiny operation by federal standards, charged primarily with administering student loans and deciding what schools get how much money. But the thing is, it was created by Jimmy Carter, which makes it bad.

Up until the second Bush administration, nearly all Republicans liked to talk about abolishing it. Now, only principled libertarians like Rand and Ron Paul want it closed down. At a debate last night, Rand explained why:



PAUL: I would rather the local schools decide things. I don't like the idea of somebody in Washington deciding that Susie has two mommies is an appropriate family situation and should be taught to my kindergardener at school. That's what happens when we let things get to a federal level. I think I would rather have local school boards, teachers, parents, people in Paduka deciding about your schools and not have it in Washington.



Well, first of all, the Department of Education is already prohibited by law from deciding on matters of curricula. And second of all, Rand Paul may not be a miserable bigot, but he's obviously more than willing to pretend to be one when asked to defend a routine libertarian policy position to Kentucky voters. "I support eliminating the estate tax because when I die I don't want the government to use my money to buy some homosexual a new pair of chaps."


— Alex Pareene
Salon.com
2010-10-15
http://www.salon.com/author/alex_pareene/index.html

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