Aug 18, 2012

Obama Talks Education in his Weekly Address

Weekly Address: Congress Should Back Plan to Hire Teachers


President Obama's weekly address today talks about a plan to hire back teachers.  He states that the United States has lost over 300,000 education jobs in the past few years.  Looking at the current job market for teachers, I've noticed that the average job posting for a classroom teacher in Massachusetts receives over 100 applicants.  At the same time, the average class size continues to rise and currently there are schools with between 30-35 students per class.  With all of these licensed teachers searching desperately for jobs, the problem in our schools isn't one of resources or availability, it's a money issue.

It would be great it there was a way to get funding for education from somewhere other than state and local government.  While these institutions do the best they can in most places, they do not have enough money to run themselves AND provide for education.  Having the federal government give a little more to support education would not only create jobs (remember that 300,000 figure...) but also provide our children with a better education.

I do not know all the details to the plan the president mentioned in his video, but SOME plan is better than no plan. Romney-Ryan do not believe the federal government should be responsible for education in this country, believing it is a state/local issue.  I believe that Education should be one of the greatest priorities of the Federal government as it is an issue that affects our national standing in the world.

Let's get the education issue on the table this election season - its just as important to the economy as medicare and taxes.

-MB

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