LTTP – Education – Reply!

Dear Readers,

Remember how a long time ago I sent a letter to President Obama about education? Well, after I waited for months, Obama wrote me back! Here’s the email, with my comments in red:

Enjoy.

Date Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 4:04 PM
Subject Thank you for your message
mailed-bywhitehouse.gov

Dear Friend:

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on education. (You’re welcome)
I appreciate hearing from you. I am committed to
providing the best possible education for our Nation's
students (I’m so glad that you are personally our benevolent provider of education.) because our children deserve it and because, today
more than ever, America's prosperity rests on how well we
educate them.

Across the country, we have many great schools
and dedicated teachers. We should be proud of these
successes, and eager to discover and support what makes
them great. We must also realize that not all children get
the education they deserve, and many schools need urgent
reform to better help our students reach their full potential.

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) (a.k.a. the Stimulus that conservative pundits, myself included, are always complaining about), my Administration has made a historic
investment toward improving public education and
providing greater access to a complete and competitive
education for every child. (what better way to increase “access to a complete and competitive education” than to spend a million bucks on iPods for kids? It really happened.) This investment will make high-
quality, early learning programs (I bet "early learning programs" means more pre-school, and more programs like Head Start, which will most likely be centers of liberal indoctrination and ineffectual boondoggles.) available to more young
children. ARRA will also help strengthen the teaching
profession by recognizing talented teachers who improve
learning and by encouraging them to stay in the schools
that need them most. We are committed to exploring
innovative approaches that advance teaching and learning
through high standards and expectations for all students,
and developing meaningful assessments. These steps can
ensure our graduates are prepared for success both in their
higher education and careers. (This all sounds great, doesn’t it? It’s hard to disagree with. Don’t we all want higher standards for our youth in school? Don’t we all want to develop meaningful assessments? However, somebody has to bring up the question, is it really the federal government’s role to improve schools? I think education ought to be left up to the states, or to even smaller entities. The Constitution doesn’t mention a word about education. Of course you could argue that in a roundabout way, making laws about education from a federal level could be justified by the elastic clause, the commerce clause, or the equal protection under the law clause in the 14th amendment. Apparently the Constitution establishes the right to have an abortion and gay marriage. Why, I bet you could even have an abortion on your gay marriage wedding day and still be Constitutional!)

A child's education does not begin and end with a
school bell, and responsibility must extend beyond a
school's walls. Our future success depends on a greater
level of engagement between parents, communities, and
schools on behalf of children. (I agree with you there, Mr. President.) We all share the duty to
educate our students, and if we hold them to the highest
standards, they will meet them. Please join me online to
read more at: www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/education.

Thank you again for writing to me about this
important issue. (You’re welcome. And thanks for writing me back. Really. I mean, I know you didn't personally read my letter, and I know that you sent me a pre-prepared letter on education, and I know that my letters to you will probably have no effect on your policy making choices, but at least in America I still enjoy the formality of getting a response from you. I doubt I would be afforded the same polite treatment were I to write such letters in a totalitarian state to a Supreme Dictator. So again, thank you.)

Sincerely,
Barack Obama

To be a part of our agenda for change, visit: www.WhiteHouse.gov

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa