In December of 2004 the results of the PISA study 2003 were published. It was conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tested 15-year old students from 39 countries. The result: U.S. students’ math skills have dropped from #19 in 2000 to #28 in 2003. Now, U.S. students’ math skills are listed as significantly below the OECD average. With the usual exceptions (NY Times, CSMonitor, Business Investor’s Daily) not much was reported about this devastating result, which may or may not be due to the fact, that U.S. children actually scored better before NCLB was signed into law.

Given the facts that the IT-industry is the only one which forecasts a 100% job-growth, that outsourcing is already a major problem for the U.S., and that mathematics is THE most important subject to prepare students for any career in the IT industry, this PISA study result is a devastating problem. U.S. students were outscored by students from 27 countries including Poland, Hungary, and Latvia, and not only the usual top scorers from Asian countries. Rod Paige called this situation a “blinking red light”, I think it presents a dangerous situation for the future of the country (If in the future more well-paying jobs will get outsourced, whose taxes will pay for … whatever?).

Personally, I believe that these famous funds should have been used for a publicity campaign informing U.S. parents that they will have to engage into their children’s math education or their children might not be able to get a well-paying job in the future.

The idea that No-Child-Left-Behind, which practically puts all burden on teachers alone, could be working without parental support is ridiculous. However, advertisement stunts such as the one with Armstrong Williams are designed to convince the public who may not read the NY Times, the CSMonitor, or Business Investor’s Daily that No-Child-Left-Behind solves all their and their children’s problems, and that should be the real issue of debate.

LaShawn stated: “I hate to agree with liberals, but in this case, I must. While I don’t want to read about yet another Congressional hearing or investigation, one might be necessary.”

LaShawn isn’t agreeing with liberals here even if she says she does. She is taking a stand that people should be honest and legal regardless of the party they belong to and she will hold our side accountable just as she would the liberals. That the liberals are on the right side is coincidental, they are doing this out of their desire to inflict damage on the other side, not because it was dishonest. Based on what little I have read here, I am certain that LaShawn does not agree with them on motivation.

This issue starts touching on a number of issues that conservatives have dropped in favor of thrashing Democrats. President Bush has at least three major points that disagree with conservative values.

No Child Left Behind Act: I don’t disagree with the act per se (I haven’t really researched what it does, but I hear it establishes standards against which schools can be measured), but I disagree that the federal government should intrude on the states to push such a program.

Patriot Act: I would rather we have strict limits on the ability of government to monitor people and violate fundamental rights and take the risks of terror attacks. Yes, people point out there has been no abuse of the act, and I can’t argue that, but I have been through kangaroo court type hearings and know exactly how much due process means. It will be when people are comfortable with this act that government will start abusing it.

Senior Drug Prescription Benefit: Disclosure: I am getting close to being a senior type person and my wife is five years closer than I am. Yet, this is an irresponsible giveaway that taxes one group of people to provide benefits to another. If people want something it should be up to them to get create it rather than have government provide it. We all die and it shouldn’t be government’s business to prolong it at the expense of others.

In these three things our president has moved left and I don’t see anybody calling him on it. I think that Republicans are mistaken when they say President Bush has a mandate. He sneaked liberal garbage into his agenda and the election may reflect that more than any cultural movement to the right. I do believe that culture is moving that direction, but we should be cautious about the actual distance we have traveled and the number of people who are truly conservative. If we misread our own status, we may end up like John Kerry, and who of you wants to end up like that?

As I have heard the mainstream media say, we need to speak truth to power, and it can’t be just the Democrats we speak it to. If we want the culture to continue to move right we need to have a destination worth moving to. We have to show that we have dependable, trustworthy principles that are worth living for. It cannot be corrupt and philosophically bankrupt like those who advocate socialist, leftist politics and who must cheat to advance their agenda.

LaShawn Barber is my kind of lady in that regard.

Jeff Mitchell

If you’ve read my post, although I have a feeling you’re reacting more to the comments, you will clearly see that I have nothing against a person earning money. Although I put the word Disclosure in bold letters and repeated it several times, you prefer to disregard it.

I don’t write all this stuff to entertain myself. I try to give people as much information as I can so they will know the facts. I included links for two GAO hearings, which state that what the various government agencies have been doing amounts to “covert propaganda,” their words, not mine. The language is in the appropriations bills for a reason. If the government broke the law by giving Williams the cash without disclosure, Williams bears some of the blame, too.

The issue was disclosure…
… now we’ve moved the goal posts on Mr. Williams but nobody else have we moved the goalposts on..

Double-standards hurt us.

My response – Then let’s wipe out PBS.

Wipe out PBS!
Wipe out PBS!

Question about Mr. Williams…. Propaganda implies lying. What was a lie told by Mr. Williams besides the fact that his silence (WHICH HAS SINCE BEEN CLEARED) was a lie because he didn’t disclose (BUT NOW HAS DISCLOSED)????

Again…. Let’s move on to tackle the LIARS in the press who want to say anything about anybody without any regard for the truth. Who want to say anything about economics, the environment, stem cells, or whatever you want to name.

I would gladly love to set the record straight. I don’t know what Mr. Williams said that needs to be set straight. And if he broke that law LB then so does PBS in my eyes.

I think it’s Oxford English Dictionary? But that’s just a guess.