Bush and the War

Dear President Bush,

In the last several years there have been many great issues that have plagued this nation such as:

v Education

v The attack on September 11th

v The war in Iraq

v Economic unpredictability

While your task over the next four years is enormous, the real problem you face is prioritization.

Each and every Americans priorities fall in different places. To please everyone isn’t easy, and practically impossible. But making sure you touch at least most of the bases is possible and an imperative.

“It sounds odd for the President to stand and say, we need to focus on reading in high school, but that’s the state of affairs. Someday, when No Child Left Behind is fully implemented and fully implemented, there are not going to need to be early intervention programs or intervention reading programs in high school. But today, we need them. That is the consensus throughout the nation. We do not want our child to get to the high school level and still have difficulty conjugating verbs and diagramming sentences. Three years ago, the No Child Left Behind Act, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that is committed to “ensuring that all students, regardless of back ground, have the opportunity to obtain a quality education and reach proficiency in core academic subjects was enacted. To reach this goal, NCLB refocused Federal education programs on the principles of stronger accountability for results, more choices for parents and students, greater flexibility for States and school districts, and the use of research-based instructional methods.”

“Recent studies of State achievement data, shows that reading and mathematics scores are up in most States, and achievement gaps among racial and ethnic groups have begun to narrow.” However, most of the progress has been in the lower levels, mainly in the elementary schools, where the resources have been aimed. Statistics show that “the longer a student stays in school, the more they will fall behind, with far too many students dropping out altogether.” Believing that if the problem is caught early, it may prevent frustration and learning problems later on.

The proposed plan for 2006 includes nearly $1.5 billion for a new “High School Initiative that would hold high schools accountable for teaching all students and providing timely intervention for those students who are not learning at grade level. The goal of this initiative is to ensure that every student graduates from high school prepared to enter college or the workforce with the skills to succeed.”

The list of other priorities include: “a $603 million increase for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies; a $508 million increase for the reauthorized Special Education Grants to States program; an $834 million increase for Pell Grants, which, combined with $420 million in new mandatory funding, would increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $4,150, and $500 million for a new Teacher Incentive Fund to encourage performance-based compensation systems that change the way school districts pay teachers.” The overall plan includes both discretionary and mandatory funds, with a strong standing commitment to a longstanding priority to things such as the Title I Grants, Special Education Grants, and Pell Grants. Also a proposal to make student loan programs more effective by reducing excessive subsidies and program costs.

Obtaining the funds to be able to go forth with this program is another issue. Consider this, developing a program that would link local schools and community colleges, large corporations and the communities themselves, all working together to help fund the local schools and colleges. This will alleviate some of the burden of tuition on the families and students who are attending the local colleges while supplementing the city funding for those schools. The local corporations can offer un-paid internships to all grades (freshman through

senior); this will benefit the students who partake in it and benefit the companies who will gain “free help” as well as potential employees.

The emphasis is on the timing “Catch the problem, early as possible to prevent, frustration later on”. In addition, getting those within the community involved early is imperative.

Another issue that has plagued the United States these past years is the horrific acts of September 11th.

The attack on the World Trade Center does not only still affect New Yorkers but all Americans. On the morning of September 11th, 2001 at about 7:58 am “United Airlines Flight 175 departs