Education Policy

  Why is it the innate response in humans to tense up, become defensive, and move into fight mode as soon as someone contradicts us? I have noticed this happen in a myriad of situations. Some are more obvious, such as when someone rudely tells us we are wrong or dumb for thinking differently. However, some are more subtle. One example of these subtle contradictions stems from my first experience sharing a room and bathroom with someone. In addition to sharing a bathroom we also shared a bottle of shampoo. After several days, I noticed a pattern of this person leaving the shampoo bottle lid open. I liked it to be closed. In my mind, it needed to be secured in the event that it might fall over and spill, because little remnants of shampoo kept drying out and getting crusty all over the rim, and simply because it looked cleaner. However, in her mind, it needed to stay open because it was quicker and more convenient to use if it was already open. At the time we did not take time to ver...

When it comes to the question: Should the education system be controlled by the state or the feds, hearts start beating faster and blood pressure raises. Many people have some heavy feelings towards this topic. Especially in recent educational debates, people from all backgrounds have shared their feelings regarding Common Core, teacher salary, and standardized testing with at least a neighbor. This is because the education system quite literally affects everyone in the nation. Nearly every citizen has had a direct interaction with the system. Whether each person attended school growing up, has a child of his or her own in attendance, or has simply paid hard earned money in tax dollars towards the organization, one thing is sure: a great deal of the welfare and wellbeing of our country resides in our education system. Naturally, each citizen should be concerned with how well it is being taken care of. Because the education system influences so much, it is natural to assume that bothe...