Education Reality Education Reality Check 2000 Brian J. Finegan Education in America has gotten so bad that even Republican George W. Bush is proposing to expand federal education programs. While the dismal performance of our public schools certainly warrants moving education to the top of the list of national concerns, the positions taken by the presidential contenders virtually assures that no progress will be made. But the nation has no such obligation, and it cannot ensure that no child is left behind.
Education is the duty of parents.
We can and should ensure that every child has the opportunity for a quality education, the rest is necessarily up to the parents. It is difficult to imagine a more preposterous statement. That is far too small a percentage to have any significant impact. What both Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore are doing is misleading Americans into thinking that education can be improved by federal involvement and that more spending is necessary. Between 1979 and 1992, while public school enrollment was declining, total expenditures for public elementary and secondary education increased by 40 percent.