How To Fix America!

This is the hardest single truth to tell. America can no longer afford to fix the world until we fix ourselves. This means taking a long hard look at where the money is going and reducing certain expenditures. The fact that the US is entering some economic hard times is still in doubt, although I think it’s on the edge.

While I really really feel for people in other countries who can’t afford to feed themselves, who have been devastated by Natural Disasters, military action or famine, we need to reduce money that is going towards these people. Right now it’s good money going after bad.

Right now high school students are dropping out at extremely high numbers. More telling is the fact that the highest drop out rates are in poverty stricken areas. Directly related is a historical decrease in interest in Science and Engineering fields. I feel a large part of these drop outs are due to “No Child Left Behind” strategy that Bush adopted, and is showing to be a dismal failure. Worse it’s leaving children unprepared for College which further reduces the intellectual advantages America use to have. In poverty stricken areas which are frequently one parent families this leads towards children not getting any schooling at all.

America needs to funnel more money into education. This is a must do or die type situation. Outsourcing our technology needs make some sense from a business standpoint, but when the Government starts doing the same with essential military applications then we’ve got problems. But a lot of the outsourcing is happening because America doesn’t have the brain trust any longer.

“No Child Left Behind” needs to become “No Child Kept Behind”. Teachers need to be paid more then they’re worth, I’d go so far as to say they should be one of the best paid professions to encourage the brightest and most qualified people to join the profession. Schools need to have ample money to provide not only basic services like teachers, fuel for buses, and extracurricular activities. Once children start gaining an interest in school and actually learning, the drop out rate will decrease dramatically.

Where does the money come for this you ask? Well, we’re already hocking our financial future to fund wars in parts of the world most Americans can’t even point to on a map. Why don’t we spend that money in education where the eventual increase in individual’s standards of living will help pay the interest? Or why don’t we increase taxes, especially among large business? Or maybe we should just continue down the road we’re going down?

Or is America destined to becoming a Third World Nation again?