President Obama sees a problem, and he sees a solution.  The problem?  American students don't seem to be able to compete internationally.  The solution?  More hours and more days in school.  More years, in fact, as he has long been a proponent of universal preschool, promoting it even as studies continue to show little or no benefit.

In the AP article hosted at Yahoo that I linked above, we learn that in many of the Asian nations we often compare ourselves to, children actually spend fewer hours per year in school than American kids.  ( DOE solution ultimately about daycare ... )</div>

Thanks be to God!

We went to the hearing yesterday, ready for DFCS to throw the book at her.  Since they hadn't given her a petition beforehand, and there were no business hours between the removal and the hearing, we had no idea what the allegations were.  We were ready for them to dredge up anything and everything.

( Read more... )

Well, crap.  Remember Tanisha?  You know, the young poor single black mother of six who's working hard, paying her bills, keeping her children fed, clothed, sheltered, schooled, medically cared for, & much loved?

Today I had to tell my four year old that Maliq can't come to his birthday party tomorrow because the government took him away and we don't know where he is.

I had to answer my 7yo, asking what they did for Halloween, "Nothing - they were taken away from their mother last night and put in the home of a stranger."

You see, Tanisha committed the grievous crime of taking her 2yo with cerebral palsy to the ER when it appeared she just wasn't eating enough after several days of trying.  And the ER - well, they called DFCS.  And DFCS came to the house, looked around, saw no beds, and carted off all the children - without regard for the sweet child with CP's medical records (which show consistent care and a history of feeding issues) or the fact that the children's words, bodies, & fridge showed they're eating fine.  They even made the newborn's father & grandmother drive him over and took that breastfeeding baby away from its mother - for who knows how long?

I tell you, I have called and emailed everyone I can think of today, from friends to governors.  WSB's investigative reporters tell me this horror story comes to them FREQUENTLY - DFCS taking children away without any evidence of harm, immediate or otherwise.

"It happens all the time" isn't good enough for me.  This must stop.

When government gets too big for its britches, it says, "I know better than you do how to raise your children."  When women like Tanisha try to throw off the chains of years of bondage to government services, pulling herself up by her proverbial bootstraps, they cut the bootstraps, reshackle the chains, and throw her to the corner to remind her just who's the Massa.

Well, folks, she's not alone.  I'm here.  You're here.  Pray, friends.  Pray.

11/3: Update!

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece last month, Dalmia & Snell implore us to protect our kids from preschool.  They overview the findings that lasting benefits have only been seen in children who are both low IQ and impoverished.  Even Head Start showed no lasting gain, and for middle & upper class children, preschool offers no benefits that last beyond first grade.

We're pushing for all 5 year olds to read, kicking and screaming, yet with no long term results.

( Why don't preschool gains stick? ... )