Mid East Speech/Press Conferance

[Peter]

*Walks out onto the stage; Peter shakes Al's hand at the podium and exchanges a few words with Al that are inaudible over the noise of the crowd*

Thank You Senator.

We are here today in Chicago, Illinois; In a school district run down both by an education system that no longer cares about it; An area so stricken by poverty that parents can barely afford to put food on the table for their children, let alone contribute to their education.

Today, I come to you with a pledge to revolutionise the way we teach our children. My plan will ensure that money is more effectively spent and that more of it gets to schools like the one behind me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is my plan:

I'm going to cull the vast majority of the bureaucracy at the higher levels of Regional government. My aim will be to decentralise the way in which decisions are made in education: The majority of money presently spent in the primary and secondary education will be sent direct to Local School Boards with no strings attached. You heard me, no strings, other than its for the best educational needs of the kids within your jurisdiction.

I don't believe that central government should be in the business of micro-managing the spending at each school, so I'm leaving it to individual School boards and the schools themselves. They know where the need is, I don't.

The remainder of the money will be allocated to a Regional fund that will be set up to help schools in deprived areas and schools that cater to special needs. Many of these schools have suffered from a starvation of cash for many years, they need fresh injections to get them back on their feet, and thats what I'm going to do.

When I say special needs, I don't just mean schools for the disabled, I also mean schools for the gifted, because to me, thats a special need as well. These children are the future of our country, they deserve the very best and should never be short of funding.

Also established with this money will be a fund that will help rebuild and maintain school buildings, such as some of the crumbling buildings you see today at this school. Today, too many children are having lessons in classrooms that aren't fit for the purpose, I'm going to turn this around; In co-ordination with the Local School Boards, this fund will bring our schools into the 21st century.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm fighting for a Progressive Social Agenda, and the highest priority of any government should be to provide education for its children to provide a secure economy for tomorrow. Thats why I'm making this my flagship policy and the highest priority of my administration should you elect me.

*Music: Happy Days are Here Again*

*Al joins Peter in shaking the hands of some members of the crowd*

[Peter]

I have some qualms with the first part actually...the state has no business micromanaging schools' spending, yes...but there should be some amount of oversight.

There will still be a curriculum that has to be taught in all schools and also there will be an inspection and auditing process that will be responsible for evaluating the competence of local level management. It will provide its reports directly to the people, who will then make their judgements when electing school board officials; I think that accountability in education can only be a good thing. I will not allow for directives that say only so much may be spent on textbooks and only so much may be spent on teacher salaries: Each community is different and has different needs, our education policy must reflect this.