June 06th, 2012

A good quote on the role of government

“Our conversations about what to do about our schools should be held at the local level and at the state level. The federal government is there to level the playing field. They're not there to steer the boat.” --Diane Ravitch, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education discussing education reform on the PBS Newshour, Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Although I do not agree with every policy stance of Secretary Ravitch, her well-considered attitude with regard to government involvement in key social functions like education is refreshing.  In essence, her words are related to the infamous Ronald Regan quote on the role of government: “government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem."  Unfortunately Republicans and right wing leaders often lean far too heavily on the underlying philosophy of these words.  I, for one, feel his words are quite unfortunate, because they are now used to force inappropriate privatization of government functions, whether or not doing so is beneficial and/or proper, while they offer elected officials a convenient excuse for not doing their jobs properly.  Ravitch’s words do not take government out of the picture; they give it a proper role.