

FIXME: zero ideas in the dept. of education's open government idea board - rndmcnlly0
http://www.openeducation.ideascale.com/

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jf
All "CFO Act" agencies have these pages, full list is here:
<http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/open/tool_poc.shtml>

Real people at these agencies are using these pages to develop their
prospective open government plans, in response to the Open Government
Directive
([http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-06.p...](http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-06.pdf))

These agencies also have their own open government pages where you can find
out about their respective plans. Here's NASA's page as an example:
<http://www.nasa.gov/open>

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vyrotek
How about the idea that there shouldn't be any public schools?

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tsally
Education is guaranteed under article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which the US signed and helped author. Not providing a public option
for education would mean redefining what we believe to be fundamental
freedoms. How are you going to provide education to the poor without public
schools? Will the government give the poor money for education? Will you
subsidize the "private" schools with government money? That would defeat the
whole purpose of having private schools as you aren't allowing them the
operate in the free market. It's not clear 100% bastardized "private" schools
would be any more competitive than the current hybrid system. Public schools
and the belief that education is a fundamental human right are inextricably
intertwined.

EDIT: I'm going to edit this comment to refuse the arguments below, as there
are multiple posters with similar points of view.

The claim is that restoring "choice" to the educational market will increase
the quality of education for all. This choice is already happening. Wealthy
families choose to move to areas with high property taxes that fund excellent
public schools. I grew up and was educated in such a neighborhood; when I was
in HS the average salary of a teacher at my "public" school was $100k. Each
year, students from inner-city Chicago try and register for the schools in my
HS area. They are not allowed because the schools are full with residents.
Therefore, they have to go the public school in the neighborhood they reside
in.

In a private system, the same behavior happens, except the barrier to entry
becomes price not the geographical location of your residence. Several people
have suggested government vouchers to help defray the cost of education. Do
you really think these vouchers will be able to buy a higher quality of
education than what is current available? The best private schools will raise
their price to the most efficient market point where they charge their
students the most and enroll exactly enough students.

Now some might argue that we already have a private system by proxy. People
are still paying for higher education, they are just doing it though home
ownership. Why not just covert to a private system? The answer is this: the
quality of the weakest school is far more important than the quality of the
strongest school. People with money will _always_ be able to find a way to get
their kids an excellent education. As a society we don't need to worry about
these kids. Society does need to worry about the bottom line. The long term
cost of failed education to society is immense: increased crime rate which
leads to prison costs, lower voter literacy which results in less qualified
politicians, the list goes on. In a private system, the low end is forgotten
about. The idea that a government voucher would be large enough for the bottom
end is ridiculous. In the public system there is a constant struggle to push
the low end higher. _This is (part of the reason) why the public system costs
so much_. The public system has to bear an extra burden (for the good of
society) that the private system eliminates through efficiency.

The bottom line: Choice is already taking place in the hybrid school system by
proxy through property tax or expensive private schools. The 100% private
system would be exactly the same, with the added disadvantage of a forgotten
low end. Vouchers are just a half-assed replacement for the public part of the
system already in place. If the vouchers were high enough to raise the low end
to an acceptable level, the cost would be equal to the public part of the
current system. In order to raise the low end of education above the fair
market value, government regulation is by definition necessary. A small
correction must be made for the failure in free market forces.

~~~
natrius
_"Will you subsidize the "private" schools with government money? That would
defeat the whole purpose of having private schools as you aren't allowing them
the operate in the free market."_

I don't understand this. The most common proposal I've heard is a voucher
system that would allow people to defray the cost of an education at a school
that has some sort of certification. In what meaningful ways is that not a
free market? How will competition be any less effective?

It is clear to me that restoring choice to the education market will allow
competition to occur, which will likely result in increased quality.

~~~
wisty
Maybe. Public education is a good way to mix student though, otherwise you
have segregation. Ghetto schools are bad, because the bad students get worse,
and the good students don't learn any street smarts.

Cutting school time, then supplementing it with tutoring vouchers would be my
preference. You get a bit of both worlds. It would be tricky for teachers, who
would need 2 jobs (one of which they would actually be accountable in) but
that could be partly positive. Exposing teachers to a bit of business might be
good.

~~~
natrius
Segregation is alive and well. Public schools don't solve that at all. Human
beings naturally stratify by class. Regardless, improving education is a
greater good than increasing diversity. If there is actually a trade-off
between the two, it's an easy choice.

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siegler
We should dismantle the Department of Education. I suggest waiting until next
year on February 6th, which would be fitting.

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TheThomas
I think it might be empty because ed.gov doesn't seem to actually link it
anywhere on their site.

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jf
They do, it's just hard to find.

<http://www2.ed.gov/about/open-submit-idea.html> via <http://ed.gov/open>

~~~
TheThomas
Thanks. Great catch. Admittedly, I'm still disappointed though. If they were
taking it seriously, I'd expect something bright and shiny on that front page
of theirs.

~~~
threepointone
or rephrased : idea no.1 - redesign ed.gov and associated programs.

:)

I'm not trolling; this is an actual idea. I'll construct a better, longer
version of this and post it soon on the site. A better portal could make
ed.gov a fantastic place for all to visit.

