Election results and Education.

Now that the election is over, let's take a look at how the process affected education and students, and also how the results will affect education. All of us know the importance of voting and teaching our youth about the process of creating laws, tracking election results and voter turnout, and teaching students what its like to make tough decisions. It is what our elected officials make every day. After all, if our children don't get it when they are youth, then who is going to be there in the political world when we are all old and gray?

Over the last couple of months, our country's media have been broadcasting ads in which this year candidates for office talk about goals, dreams, and their accomplishments, and make promises. On Election Day, it isn’t about how many babies those candidates have kissed ... it’s about the number of votes.

As you may know, I believe that lack of education is the root of most of the troubles in this country. My website, http://www.roccobasile.org/ focuses on trends in education, and shows allot of information on how educating our youth will help reduce crime, poverty and violence. That is very obvious from working with my charity programs including Children of the City.

Teachers in classrooms nationwide have been using Election Day as a significant teachable moment. One website called Education World, even houses lessons that emphasize election vocabulary, the importance of voting, and the jobs that elected officials do. Election Day is all about preparing kids to understand this year’s election results.

And now that the results are in, here's what we can look forward to in the new administration insofar as education and our youth. Rahm Emanuel apparently will be Barack Obama's White House chief of staff. Here's what he proposed several months back: Force students to complete high skill and at least one year of college or higher education. Expanded education tax credits.

And in a Q&A session with Fox News, here's what the new president elect Obama said.

Q: As president, can you name a hot-button issue where you would be willing to buck the Democratic Party line & say, "You know what? Republicans have a better idea here?"
A: I think that on issues of education, I've been very clear about the fact--and sometimes I've gotten in trouble with the teachers' union on this--that we should be experimenting with charter schools. We should be experimenting with different ways of compensating teachers.
Q: You mean merit pay?
A: Well, merit pay, the way it's been designed, I think, is based on just a single standardized test--I think is a big mistake, because the way we measure performance may be skewed by whether or not the kids are coming into school already 3 years or 4 years behind. But I think that having assessment tools and then saying, "You know what? Teachers who are on career paths to become better teachers, developing themselves professionally--that we should pay excellence more." I think that's a good idea.
Source: Fox News Sunday: 2008 presidential race interview Apr 27, 2008

-- Rocco Basile