Of all the failures of government, I believe our schools are the absolute worst example. Control of what happens in the schools should be entirely in local hands. Washington DC should have no business dictating our kids’ education. Even St. Paul needs to mind their business and let the localities make these important decisions.

My goal is to restore local control. At the most, the state should offer tools to help with improving districts. They should not be setting rules or telling us how to teach our kids.  

For many parents, Covid remote schooling was a shocking eye opener about what our children are being taught. That peek behind the curtain was startling, as parents across our state and country saw administrators trying to hide curriculum from the parents. Many of us watched with shame and disdain as the presidents of three top tier Ivy League colleges stated before congress that antisemitism is acceptable on their campuses. We have seen PhD level supposed experts actually state that they know better than a parent what our children should be taught! These are the people molding future educators and policy makers.

Our statewide government schools are failing the students and yet we are required to send our children to them. The government has a virtual monopoly on education. Compound this problem with mushrooming counts of non-English speaking students. 

I feel for our teachers. The vast majority are great people that truly want to educate and help our kids. But their hands are tied in so many ways. The controversial aspects of the curriculum are forced upon them. High maintenance students without language skills slow down learning for entire classrooms. Teachers are discouraged from holding students to any kind of standards. Discipline of any kind is limited or nonexistent.

Part of local control should be getting back to basics. It is not in our schools purview to teach our children their view of right and wrong through their personal political filter. Preparing children for a more technical age needs to include reading, math, science, and personal finance. These are actual tools that will be used later in life. 

Our children need to be provided a learning environment where teachers have the opportunity to teach these topics. 

Without political agendas. 

Without dictums from on high in St. Paul and D.C. 

Without bearing the burden of our grossly flawed immigration enforcement.

Minnesota schools see influx of Latin American migrant students (startribune.com)