Save Our Students and Teachers.

If Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York wanted to create a "Nanny" government, Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to be the "Big Daddy".  Imagine spending millions of taxpayers dollars on a baby-sitting plan for four year olds.

Where four year old children are still bonding with their mothers and becoming more secure in their home environment the bureaucrats want to rip them away from their mother’s arms and start their indoctrination early in pre-kindergarten.  Children who experience too many transitions at an early age suffer developmentally and end up with behavioral and cognitive problems.  This program amounts to nothing more than babysitting services at an exorbitant cost to taxpayers.  This is one segment of the population which needs the least amount of help.We have enormous debt that we’ll never be able to repay.  The economy is fragile and anemic.  People must settle for no job or part-time work. They cannot support themselves nor their families.  The middle class has been destroyed.  Most people are living paycheck to paycheck with no cushion for emergencies.  Entitlements are being distributed at an all-time high.  We have wounded warriors who, thanks to cutting edge techniques and modern medicine, are able to survive severe trauma and devastating injuries  Too many families need help to provide the basics.  It’s incomprehensible to consider making pre-k education for four year olds a top priority when our public education system has crashed.  Young people who in earlier times became gas jockeys could learn to fix under-the-hood machinery are no longer being hired.  Only top-tier honor role students can consider college through scholarship programs.   The cost of a college education is now too costly for average families to afford.  Why saddle students with unnecessary debt trying to repay student loans?

 The mayors want laws to protect us against fat, sugar and salt.  As Americans, don’t we have freedom of choice?  Trends were once set by the Europeans and spread to the big east coast cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago.  Now the reverse is true.  Trends are moving from west, mainly from Asia to major cities in California, Washington and Oregon.  Globalization is both a help and a hindrance.  One solution which makes a great deal of sense is to condense the high school curriculum and allow completion of studies at the tenth grade level. If the student wants to attend college, use the junior and senior years as prep school.  For other students who show an interest in technical or trade schools,allow them to transfer in.  Some may want to enlist in services to help at international crisis centers like the Peace Corps. Open up academies for those who want to focus on painting, sculpture, design, language, acting, writing, dancing or music.  STEM courses of study -sciences,technology, math and engineering would be started earlier.  Military training, fire-fighting and national guard training could be made available.   Junior and senior year students who excel in business courses or those who seek careers in teaching could transfer to community colleges to get a head start.

 Those students considering pre-law or pre-med, could be allowed early admission into college.  We should consider expanding training in areas such as organic farming and environmentally-related careers as well. By offering a high school diploma at the completion of tenth grade we offer an incentive for youngsters to stay in school. We should give tax credits to companies who make room for two-year internship programs.  Some of the buildings presently being used for high schools and middle schools could be turned into community centers for emergency use in assisting the homeless as shelters.  Nurses in training might spend part of their time helping out in these centers.  The community centers might teach immigrants language skills and basics of things like banking in order to make them more independent.

 Instead of using tax dollars for pre-k education for four year olds we will be able to salvage our public school system without the enormous expense of yet another government-run failure.  We don’t need cash for clunkers part two.  By permitting teens to finish their high school studies by the tenth grade, we will be offering them a workable, accessible, affordable system to reach their goals.  The last thing we need are high school graduates who excel at taking tests.  We can give them a legacy of a truly fine education and the ability to be able to compete in the global market.  Our children and their teachers will bring innovation into the great institutions of high learning.