Mitt Romney raised eyebrows when he suggested last week that we don't need more teachers, firefighters, and police, and that we instead should be cutting down on government. This morning, a top Romney surrogate, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu essentially doubled down on the line.
"Let me respond as a taxpayer, not as a representative of the Romney campaign," Sununu told MSNBC's Chris Jansing. "There are municipalities, there are states where there is flight of population. And as the population goes down, you need fewer teachers."
That may be true in certain localities. But Romney was talking about a national policy. And on that score, as MSNBC guest host Michael Eric Dyson pointed out Monday night, Sununu's argument doesn't hold up.
"By 2015, enrollment is projected to be nearly ten million students higher than it was at the beginning of the decade," Dyson noted. In other words, if anything, the United States needs a lot more teachers overall. Indeed, the recession has already led to the loss of as many as a quarter million teachers nationwide, a fact that Romney and Sununu failed to mention.
The Maddow Blog's Steve Benen notes that Romney's call for cutting down government and Sununu's call for less teachers are out of step with public attitudes, with an October 2011 poll finding that 75 percent of Americans supported providing federal funds for state governments to hire teachers.
"What Romney believes would 'help the American people' and the American people believe would help the American people are two very different things," writes Benen.
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People wake up soon we will be so uneducated we will think Romney is telling the truth!!
Romney is proof we need more, skilled teachers!
This is insane. First of all, classrooms have changed dramatically over the past twenty years. We have an influx of ELL's, students with IEP's, and behavioral/discipline problems that are not adequately dealt with in order to aid the educational stucture of the classroom. The regular students (those reading on grade level, those whose parents are actively involved, and those who come to school on a daily basis to learn) are suffereing today. Instruction is slower, restructured to be below grade level to accommodate the other students, and is veritably destroying the motivation of the regular classroom student. What happened to students soaring, getting the maximum of daily instruction, and preparing our students for the next level of study. Teachers are in a quandry today. The administration is either following an antiquated system, or pandering to some colleague with a 'new' model or 'structure'. Each year teachers are subjected to what is 'in vogue' for that particular year. And, each year it changes. It is time to remove the politicalness from education, begin with basics, and hold parents, as well as, students accountable for their portion of their educational successes. This is almost an impossibility when student numbers reach more than 30 students per class. There are solutions, but nobody is willing to listen, especially to teachers.
People wake up as we become less educated it allows fools like Rormney to look intelligent!!!! It will be a sad day for this country when these"Men" become our Role Models!
I am so embarrassed for these people and their birther idea. I really fear for them because they have already lost their ability to think for themselves and see how these guys are jealous that an african american has crashed through they glass ceiling. The only thing I see with this is they hide behind it so they can do more sleazy things behind our backs!
He raised his eyebrows cause it appears that President Obama believes it is a Federal issue to higher police, fire, and teachers. Guess what Mr President it is the states responsibility and moreover, it is the local governments issue. Passing legislation at the federal level to hire these people only leaves the states hanging out to dry when the funding stops. Thus I hate to agree with what Scott Walker did but renegotiating or eliminating unions from public jobs can substantially help EVERY STATE.
Sorry but your facts are wrong. The unions gave concessions to Mr. Walker Before he stripped collective bargaining. Also, some of the funds for schools normally come from the Federal government, especially for special education. Mr. Ford, a Republican, signed PL 94-142 which required that all school districts had a responsibility to see that special needs children received a quality education and that the Federal government would assist with the funding. So please do your homework before commenting with untruths.
Statistics indicate that states with strong teacher unions have higher achievement. There are probably many reasons for that. One obvious reason is that teachers with decent salaries and stable employment don't have to work two jobs, and do have time to put in the extra hours every day that are needed to foster achievement.
For those who argue that teacher, firefighter, and police force hiring is only local -- look at the Federal money that put more officers on the street.
It would be much nicer if education was entirely controlled by the states and if the Federal government could step out but that is not what we have. The NCLB was a republican idea in which Mitt Romney applauds. Romney says that "I think the President (referring to Bush in 2006) was right to insist on measurements." School funding and teacher retention is dependent on these measurements and standards that are a huge failure to our children, that Romney fully endorsed. I vote for whoever will end the DOE and these standardized tests. Romney wants less teachers and more regulation which will leave more of our children uneducated. I'm beginning to think that, maybe they don't want us to be educated, because with education comes intelligence which gives us the power to change and vote for those who will make the right decisions for the US.
Wake up you liberals, the Federal government is the one that employees police, fireman, and teachers.
That laa is doen and paid for at the local level..
As of today the fed employs over 3 million people... None are local teachers, police, fireman...
Who in the past has grown the economy by hiring more Federal government employees. Reagan, daddy bush and gw. All are guilty of this act. So what do you thing will happen if romney gets into office? They don't want Obama to do that because he might be able to succeed and give our country a break.
The republican only think it is ok if they do it and succeed.
It is not up to these sleazy politicians to mention the decline in teachers nationwide, that responsibility belongs to the reporters. They've really been doing a miserable job in asking about some really important questions. I would love to hear Romney's explanation. He wilts under these kinds of questions because he has no real experience with creating jobs, only leveraging huge amounts of debt to purchase failing businesses to make them even more unsustainable. Reporters, get to work, make him sweat. He will, you know. He's a very vulnerable candidate.
All anyone has to do is look at class size, spending per student and achievement around the world to see that the Teacher's Unions and their protection of low performing teachers are killing our education system.
Based on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's study of primary and secondary education PISA (Programe for International Student Assessment) 2009 some of the highest performing countries have the larger class sizes and spend significantly less per student than does the US.
Korea, Japan, Poland and Germany all outperform the US in both Math and Science with Korea and Japan doing so by significant margins, yet all four have larger class sizes and spend significantly less per student. The average class size in the US for secondary education is 24.3 and the average cumulative spending is $92,000 per ...student.
Korea - class size 35.5 / $53,000 per student.
Japan - class size 34 / $69,000 per student.
Poland - class size 24.7 / $31,000 per student.
Germany - class size 25 / $58,000 per student.
There are others with smaller class sizes who perform significantly better than the US in Math and Science but at a drastically reduced cost per student. For the US to reach these class sizes the cost per student would climb exponentially.
Finland - class size 20 / $65,000 per student.
Australia - class size 24 / $63,000 per student.
UK - class size 23 / $62,000 per student.
Hungary - class size 22.5 / $38,000 per student.
Throwing tax payer dollars at the problem is not the answer, neither is hiring more teachers. The answer is hiring better teachers and getting rid of low performing teachers. Then parents must be involved in their childs education. They can't simply send their kids off to school day after day with no accountability for insuring homework is completed and that the student is actually learning.
Then in non delusion land when both parents are working 2 and 3 jobs it is stupidity at its best to think they can take time off work to deal with kids education and on top of that you have the idiots in Texas making sure no information gets out to students, the Texas school book Committee sure do love their American mythology though.
There is no possible way that America spends 92,000 per student.
You can't just make numbers up in your head. Your numbers are completely false. The average is just a little over $10,500 average per child, per school, depending on the state. Also you mention that Korea and Japan have bigger class sizes, but they are also a much stricter hierarchical society which intolerance leads to severe consequences. In those countries a single teacher would have the respect that a similar class size in America would not have. Our kids here come from all different backgrounds and family structures, many kids live with one working parent or grandparent, some are homeless and poor, and many don't receive any kind of discipline or support at home. If you want to know how schools are get out from behind your computer screen and actually visit one for awhile.
At the 2:50 mark of the video clip -- a graphic shows school enrollment at over 75M for 2010 -- what it doesn't tell you is that only 55.5M of those kids were enrolled in public schools. (source: )
That's down from 56M when the recession started in 2008/9 -- so Sununu is correct in his statement that we have fewer kids in our public school system.
I have figured out what the Republicans are doing this election:
They have been caught many times not telling the truth about different things going on in the country. While the media catches these untruths and confronts them with it, they still want to tell their untrue statements. This knowing of what you are saying that isn't true, and still making these statements, is called LYING! Plane and simple.
Now that we know this, all you need to do is think about it a little and this is what comes to the front. The Republican party has decided that they will continue with these lies in such abundance, that the people will start to believe it is true. You know, if you say something enough, it will start to sound like it must be true, but it isn't. And with their $$Millions$$ of dollars being thrown into the Republican party, which might turn into $$Billions$$ by the time of the election, this might just work for them. How do you stop this? How many of the media need to tell Americans that they are lying to let us know that it is happening?
Please pass this on to All your media friends at MSNBC.
Much of it is the actions and purpose of the koch brothers and such who do not want government regulation to make them keep America environment safe. They want to avoid regulation so they can greedily not pay to clean up their production messes and let the streams and land be poisoned by their toxic wast that they create. They do not want their employees to have any incentives or fair pay. They just want to produce goods, drill for oil, etc irresponsibly.
Sununu is talking about suburban areas. He is not talking about the cities, especially the inner cities where more teachers are needed so that classes can be kept at a size that produces the best learning environment. We must understand that there is a discriminatory theme here that it part of a bigger push to limit opportunities, especially based on race or background. This is an extreme right group that fears the future in which they will become the minority as our country becomes more diverse. They are so focused on the future that they find themselves paralyzed in the present. They see a world of scarcity and they feel that they deserve the biggest piece of the pie and the rest of us should just have the scraps which remain. The truth is that we live in a world of abundance and that there is plenty for all of us.
I think they have gone stark raving mad! Lets see we have heard how awful American schools are and we are not competing with other nations and yet you have Romney saying we need less teachers. Romney has not a clue . From his past bulling and other things it is clear he skated through school also ! They would pack kids in a class room like sardines and careless ! Pathetic is what they are!!!!
The account below are words straight from meeting minutes of a meeting of Elders (I suppose) of the Morman faith in 1843 (I suppose). I can also imagine or suppose a town in an uproar over nothing, perhaps a Romneyville/ Dramaville a Salem-esque sordid place with the dissenting ones disabled and bound for a bond-fire’s middle. While the account below was given/stated in 1843, the words in the account below, are the words of Joseph Smith; The Center of the Mormon Religion. I do not want to speak against the congregation’s members, but leaders are at the head just like head waters to a river. So as leaders/teachers of derision/the mouth of a river, the leaders themselves, place themselves, in The Danger of The Judgment of God. To blame unknowing congregants, for molestations/for being fed is simply stopping short of the buck. Exploits and tactics of such men using spiritual cults for numbers and power’s sake, on a stump of a country bought buy blood and deaths is a disgrace exceeding all proportions I’ve ever seen. When II see and hear him ranting about ruse after ruse, I see shame, for he is a man willing to exploit, drag down and destroy an entire country for some grandiose, self-seeking scheme, in multitudinous actions of intent after intent while screaming at Obama, as if he is looking in the mirror. Standing smart on that stump more intolerant than a toddler, does he also believe the Country’s countrymen are just common and believe it all. Romney [HE]The Patriarchal Government’s Father
A Prophecy
Section Six 1843-44, p.285
I prophesied, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Orrin Porter Rockwell would get away honorably from the Missourians. (March 15, 1843.) DHC 5:305.
Proclamation
Section Six 1843-44, p.285
To the Citizens of Nauvoo:
Section Six 1843-44, p.285
Whereas it appears, by the republication of the foregoing proceedings and declaration, that I have not altered my views on the subject of stealing: And
Section Six 1843-44, p.285
Whereas it is reported that there now exists a band of desperadoes, bound by oaths of secrecy, under severe penalties in case any member of the combination divulges their plans of stealing and conveying properties from station to station, up and down the Mississippi and other routes: And
Section Six 1843-44, p.285
Whereas it is reported that the fear of the execution of the pains and penalties of their secret oath on their persons prevents some members of said secret association (who have, through falsehood and deceit, been drawn into their snares) from divulging the same to the legally constituted authorities of the land:
Section Six 1843-44, p.285
Know ye, therefore, that I, Joseph Smith, mayor of the city of Nauvoo, will grant and insure protection against all personal mob violence to each and every citizen of this city who will freely and voluntarily come before me and truly make known the names of all such abominable characters as are engaged in said secret combination for stealing, or are accessory thereto, in any manner. And I would respectfully solicit the co-operation of all ministers of justice in this and the neighboring states to ferret out a band of thievish outlaws from our midst. Given under my hand at Nauvoo City, this 25th day of March, A.D., 1843.
Is America perhaps the fount to quench the Romney thirst/drive for drama/cooked up quips? Is he imagining his thirst quenched when he’s on the stump; a-ranting & a-raving, forgetting His religion is classified a cult. Does America really need to hand her keys over to one hyper fixated in psyche under pretense of a Republician banner.
Link for the Account/Teachings given above/On Education
Should Romney tend to his own education first, then worry about America's?
More Education Issues To Ask Romney About
sites
.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T6.html
utim.org/onlinebooks/curseofcain_contents.htm
utim.org/onlinebooks/curseofcain_part1.htm