LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Review-Journal welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should not exceed 300 words and must include the writer’s name, mailing address and phone number. Submissions may be edited and become the property of the Review-Journal. Email letters@reviewjournal.com Mail Letters to the Editor P.O. Box 70 Las Vegas, NV 89125 Fax (702) 387-5241 outlines ways to improve within budget,” July 17 Review-Journal) reminded me of my own elementary and high school education in Ohio. The stock market collapse of the Great Depression coincided with my birth, and my education tracked the depression and World War II.

I graduated in 1947 with a high school diploma, which is reportedly comparable to a present-day college degree. My education was designed, executed and monitored entirely by state, county and school district officials, without notable federal help. Since the Constitution doesn’t contain the word “education” and does not serve to impose any conditions or standards applicable to education on the American people, educating the children of our country should be wholly a state, local and parental area of responsibility.

As I recommended to one of our representatives a few weeks ago, if we obtained the curriculum for grades K-12 for public schools in the state of Ohio between 1935 and 1947, tweaked them to fit 2014 realities and made them available to all 50 states, we could repair our failed education system. Pretty simple.

Next, abolish the Department of Education and let a national association of state departments of education serve as a national sounding board, focusing on advisory information for state and local use as desired. Then, defang the education unions by whatever name they claim, and remove their power over government entities so that the chain of command is clearly the people — the parents — directing the education system.

Elevate teachers to the professional level they should occupy as one of the most important professions in our society by demanding their behavior, performance, pride and effectiveness meet the people’s high professional expectations. Finally, dissolve the foolish connection between the amount of money thrown into the public education mill and the product produced by this inefficient machinery. How long does it take sane people to accept the definition that doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is insane?

LAS VEGAS