November 8, 2007
Huckabee Says U.S. Education System Bores Students
Mike Huckabee, a Republican and former governor of Arkansas, told an audience at the University of Northern Iowa yesterday that one of the biggest problems with America’s education system is that it bores students, according to The Des Moines Register.
At the university’s forum on education, the former governor also reiterated his support for putting a greater emphasis on arts and music education.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that we were behind other countries in math and science, and we’ve changed requirements,” Mr. Huckabee was quoted as saying. “We’ve done so at the expense of music and art, and in doing so we’ve made a huge, stupid mistake.”
Among his other education proposals, Mr. Huckabee advocated providing federal financial benefits for college students who plan to pursue careers in national service that would be similar to the educational benefits provided to military personnel.
John Edwards, a Democrat and former U.S. senator from North Carolina, appeared at the university as part of the same education forum series on Sunday. He used his platform to take a swipe at President Bush’s record on education.
Sara Hebel | Posted on Thursday November 8, 2007 | PermalinkComments
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Well, I would argue that we are still behind the rest of the world in math and science because we keep electing fundamental Republican bible-thumping hacks to our highests offices! Their agenda is based on the idea that they are ordained to shove Judeochristian ideals down everyones’s throat! So until this country can elect a moderate (from either party) we’ll stay the intellectual laughing stock of the western world.
— 12345666 Nov 8, 03:44 PM #
If nothing else, Huckabee has a keen sense of the obvious.
— barbara Nov 8, 04:09 PM #
Thirty years ago, we had a fundamental Democratic president who, among other things, said we needed to conserve energy or we’d more or less become slaves of foreign oil. His truth was so unpopular that he had no chance of being re-elected. Is it the political party, the religious beliefs, or us?
— Keith Nov 8, 04:57 PM #
Sure, 12345666, blame Bush et al. for the poor quality of U.S. public education … don’t blame disinterested parents who use TV as a babysitter, teachers who don’t know much more than the kids, or any of a hundred other factors that have nothing to do with knee-jerk ideas based on emotion rather than fact.
— Lori Nov 8, 06:58 PM #
I have to agree with Mr. Huckabee about the emphasis put on math and science at the expense of other courses and I happened to be a science instructor. The purpose of education is to help students learn how to be well-rounded individuals. Yes, we need math and science but we also need the humanities. Cut out a few of the pep rallies or assemblies and spend more actual time in the classroom.
— Don Lewis Nov 8, 09:21 PM #
Let us begin with helping the parents. Parents who are working two and three jobs,
have no health care, and struggle
for child care or cannot be home
to supervise their children are
blamed for their inadequate
parenting. Let us begin with
a living wage and healthcare.
Then let us provide excellent
child care. After that we
can examine the schools and
in particular, the Schools of
Education. The best and
the brightest do not want
to teach. Let us ask why and
change the system to
attract them.
— Mary Lou Isaacson Nov 9, 09:58 AM #