Reaction to Sen. John McCain’s Speech
Arizona Senator John S. McCain gave his acceptance speech for the GOP Nomination for President of the United States a few nights ago in St. Paul, MN at the Republican National Convention. It’s been said by the Fox News Channel that more people watched McCain’s speech than watch Barack Obama’s, an accomplishment few would have thought possible a week ago, before Sarah Palin stepped onto the scene. While Gov. Palin is an incredible individual whom I greatly respect and support, it is the top of the ticket that must provide the utmost leadership for America. John McCain delivered beautifully.
To quote one of McCain’s commercials, “Washington is broken. John McCain knows it.” In the Xcel Center, John McCain lined out for American people his hopeful and forward-looking plans for the future. He said, ” In America, we change things that need to be changed.” He promised real reform and progress in government and help for the everyday American family. He said, “We lost their trust when we [the former GOP Congress] valued our power over their principles. [Gov. Palin and I are] going to change that.” I believe him, too, because of his increasingly apparent “maverick-style” ability to work against the Party (when necessary) and instead do what is right for the country. In other words, McCain is the leader we need for putting “Country First.” The man himself said it best, “…I’ve been called a maverick… what it really means is I understand who I work for… not a party, … for you.”
Sen. McCain also promised to fight so-called “pork barrel” spending in Congress by vetoing anything that resembles earmarks. Of the those that ask for them, he said, “You will know their names.” He feels it will be his duty, as President, to report to you those who try to wastefully spend your money. And frankly, he’s sick of it. As a Senator, John McCain has never asked for a single earmark. He is fully and faithfully committed to fiscal responsibility in the government. Now, some preach the benefits of earmarks, saying many local and state projects wouldn’t ever be completed without them. John McCain seems to feel that there are better ways to go about acquiring federal funds, like putting those requests and monetary disbursements out in the open, so the American people can see them for what they truly are. Only reforms such as these will serve to break the chokehold lobbyists have on Congress.
As for education in America, teachers and parents, alike, should be rejoicing and throwing themselves fully behind Senator John S. McCain’s plan for education reformation. I honestly believe that President Bush had the right general idea for greater accountability when he introduced the No Child Left Behind legislation, but as a person who had to endure seven years of schooling under it, I can testify to its many shortcomings. Students must be accountable, as well. Teachers need the authority to discipline them. Students must take responsibility for their own education. Ultimately, it is they who will have to live with their choice of how hard they studied and how much they applied themselves when the opportunity presented itself. To illustrate this struggle, Sen. McCain put it this way: “Education is the civil rights issue of this century.”
Teachers are being blamed for their failure of their slacker students. While on the surface it appears that the gap between lower-achieving and higher achieving students is decreasing, the numbers are misleading. Many special education students (not all, mind you, but anecdotally a large number) have discovered that because of this legislation and the concessions it makes, they don’t actually have to work hard to succeed, at least in school. This in turn means that teachers (due to increased mainstreaming) must teach to a lower and lower target level in the classroom. Thus, the gap is narrowing, because it is no longer the lower students being left behind, it’s the upper students, the gifted students and the ones who have above average intelligence who are, while those below them hardly move up academically at all. When these either frustrated or slacking students fail the state-mandated standardized tests and cause their school to lose AYP approval, the teachers are the ones who are sacked, and many of them are wonderful, 25 year+ teachers who were simply the victims of a failed system. John McCain promises to change all of that.
He wants to remove those barriers for qualified teachers and open up more funding for private and charter schools and options for parents who want to send their children to institutions such as those. For teachers who truly don’t make the grade, and for workers whose jobs have disappeared forever, he will increase funding to community colleges to help them retrain for either a more permanent job or one more suited to their skills, talents, and abilities. “We’re going to help workers, who’ve lost a job that won’t come back, find a new one that won’t go away.” In terms of those outsourced jobs, McCain says he’ll “…help American companies compete and keep jobs from going overseas.” He says “It’s time for us to show the world, again, how Americans lead.” John McCain believes firmly in the principles of work, and is against the entitlement society left-wing liberals and Democrats seem to be pushing for, saying, “We believe in government that gives you the choices to do the best you can.”
His other main theme was the fight for America. He told the cheering crowds in Minnesota he is “…running for President to keep the country I love safe” and to keep other families from losing loved ones to war. John McCain knows the threats facing our country are real and everyday grow closer to home. He wants “… a freer, safer, more prosperous world” and he’ll go about accomplishing that by fighting for freedom and democracy diplomatically, and as a last-resort option, militarily, across the globe. “We’ve faced many dangerous threats in this world, but I’m not afraid of them. I’m prepared for them … I have the scars to prove it.”
Senator John S. McCain will be our next President. I have no doubt in this soon-to-be fact, but it will only occur if the American people continue the excitement gained from the Republican National Convention last week in St. Paul. Without John McCain, I’m not sure we’ll even be able to call this great nation the “United States of America” any more. It might need a “Socialist” or “Communist” prefix with an Obama presidency.
I’ll leave you with some inspirational words from our next president:
In a rallying cry for America, he said, “I will fight for her [the USA] as long as I draw a breath… Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight with me. Fight for what’s right for our country’s future… Stand up and fight. We’re Americans. We never give up. We never quit. We never run from history. We make history.”
I think that mainstreaming special needs students into a “normal” classroom is a good idea. I am an education major, and I am learning not only to teach the gifted students that can go above and beyond in the classroom, but I am also learning how to include students with special needs. Mainstreaming students will not only help “normal” students become more accepting of others, it will also help “special” students become comfortable in the classroom. It is uncalled for to hold students back, and mainstreaming is really only a struggle for the special needs students to adjust in a new environment.
While mainstreaming helps students socially, I’ve not found a teacher, in my experience, who can cater to both ends of the spectrum and still meet standards and still maintain order and still get his/her grades done on time, etc.
However, I really would LOVE to hear your ideas, because this is a subject that needs discussed. In this country, we have an education quandary. We cannot leave ANY student behind, gifted or special needs, at least those who are physically capable of completing the work.
There are those who simply cannot do it, and we need to cater to them to, but perhaps the normal classroom environment is not the best setting. They need specific help that I don’t think can be adequately provided in a normal classroom setting.
I appreciate your intelligent discussion!