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• Anonymous

  The problem with Mr Bowen is that with his vast experience as a Junior High teachers, he has no real understanding of the real problems in our public schools system.
  The vast majority of schools work and work well, the vast majority of students get a fantastic education and are prepared for their next step in the world. Myth hearsay and lies spewed by the right stretch stories about a few students and a few schools into stories bigger than life.
  All Bowen is doing is obeying his marching orders that come from the MHPC through paul LePage. The MHPC is passing along marching roders frm highly paid lobbyists, that get their demands from the people that pay the campaign donation bills. They have a financial interest in charter schools and Bowen is pushing that agenda.
  If our public schools were allowed to teach, instead of having to focus day after day, week after week and year after on an endless stream of poorly designed tests the leaks could be plugged in a large way. No system will ever be perfect, there will always be a few kids that slip through with less than a perfect education, but handing the system over to for profit business who’s only aim is to rake in taxpayers dollars is not the way!

• Anonymous

  The problem with Mr Bowen is that with his vast experience as a Junior High teachers, he has no real understanding of the real problems in our public schools system.
  The vast majority of schools work and work well, the vast majority of students get a fantastic education and are prepared for their next step in the world. Myth hearsay and lies spewed by the right stretch stories about a few students and a few schools into stories bigger than life.
  All Bowen is doing is obeying his marching orders that come from the MHPC through paul LePage. The MHPC is passing along marching roders frm highly paid lobbyists, that get their demands from the people that pay the campaign donation bills. They have a financial interest in charter schools and Bowen is pushing that agenda.
  If our public schools were allowed to teach, instead of having to focus day after day, week after week and year after on an endless stream of poorly designed tests the leaks could be plugged in a large way. No system will ever be perfect, there will always be a few kids that slip through with less than a perfect education, but handing the system over to for profit business who’s only aim is to rake in taxpayers dollars is not the way!

• Anonymous

  The problem with Mr Bowen is that with his vast experience as a Junior High teachers, he has no real understanding of the real problems in our public schools system.
  The vast majority of schools work and work well, the vast majority of students get a fantastic education and are prepared for their next step in the world. Myth hearsay and lies spewed by the right stretch stories about a few students and a few schools into stories bigger than life.
  All Bowen is doing is obeying his marching orders that come from the MHPC through paul LePage. The MHPC is passing along marching roders frm highly paid lobbyists, that get their demands from the people that pay the campaign donation bills. They have a financial interest in charter schools and Bowen is pushing that agenda.
  If our public schools were allowed to teach, instead of having to focus day after day, week after week and year after on an endless stream of poorly designed tests the leaks could be plugged in a large way. No system will ever be perfect, there will always be a few kids that slip through with less than a perfect education, but handing the system over to for profit business who’s only aim is to rake in taxpayers dollars is not the way!

• http://www.infowars.com Pat Riote

  The School Choice program, or School Voucher program, is absolutely not a “separate but equal” problem. It’s a choice. Children of parents who wish to put their children in better schools shouldn’t be disadvantaged or prohibited from doing so simply because other parents can not or will not do so. It falls upon the school to provide worth-while education to all students, and parents who feel their children would be better off at another school shouldn’t be prohibited from doing so.

  The collective bargaining rights of teachers is just, at least in part, a perpetuation of bad educators getting paid to just do a job rather than actually educate children. There needs to be less laws prohibiting choices, and more laws and enforcement concerning performance. I know there are teachers out there doing their absolute best, but even they can’t help every child. Some performance issues of students is not fault of the school or teachers, but other problems at home or with the student themselves.

  Not everyone grows up being an engineer or inventor or whatever, and some times it isn’t the fault of the teacher or parent. Maybe this is because education isn’t as specialized as it should be, because some kids (like myself growing up) get bored with the generalized curriculum of public schools and just can’t find their niche. As an example, had I found out earlier on in life what I am now passionate about, in my opinion I would probably have been more successful in life overall. I think that is because of a lack of specialized choice in education.

  Maybe diplomas for public schools should be more like colleges at the “jr high” and/or “high school” levels, in that they are specialized to a specific field of study. Keeping children/teenagers interested in learning would be key to a successful education program, and limiting choices doesn’t do that. It also doesn’t help that a lot of public education is repetitious in nature, adding to the boredom.

  I would like to see year-round school, but get rid of the bulk of homework assignments. Most homework is unnecessary to the learning process. Occasional projects or studies is fine, but most homework prevents young people from being interested in learning from the constant bulk of pointless repetition. Homework also bogs teachers down from being able to focus on a curriculum that works, and is costly in the long run from having to have tons of paper pointlessly being wasted.

  Testing for children should not only be performance based, but also for what a child shows interest and an aptitude for. If a child prefers to read and write, then the focus for that child should have specialized classes for things like English, drama, or some other media and language related courses; while at the same time not neglecting the other aspects of education. Or if a child shows more of an interest in science/biology, then that child should have more of a curriculum based on that while not neglecting English. Children showing an interest in things like mechanics, welding or building construction and the like could possibly get an apprenticeship earlier on in life. Same for children showing an interest in law, finance, information technology, public service, agriculture, psychology, history; and so on, and so forth.

  I’m not sure how it would all work in practice, based on population size or location and distance, but these are just my suggestions. It just doesn’t make sense to keep on going down such a generalized path for the education of children. I know it didn’t work for me. I became bored and bogged down by constant pointless homework assignments. Lots of people, and I’m sure some of you reading this will agree from personal experience, still don’t know what they want to do in life. Could it be because of the overly-generalized public school system? I think so, but that’s just my opinion from personal experience. I really wish I had more aptitude testing done as a child, so I could be placed in programs I showed an interest in. It would have made learning, and school, fun. I’m actually having fun in college, learning about something I *want* to learn about, and I think that’s the whole point.

• http://www.infowars.com Pat Riote

  The School Choice program, or School Voucher program, is absolutely not a “separate but equal” problem. It’s a choice. Children of parents who wish to put their children in better schools shouldn’t be disadvantaged or prohibited from doing so simply because other parents can not or will not do so. It falls upon the school to provide worth-while education to all students, and parents who feel their children would be better off at another school shouldn’t be prohibited from doing so.

  The collective bargaining rights of teachers is just, at least in part, a perpetuation of bad educators getting paid to just do a job rather than actually educate children. There needs to be less laws prohibiting choices, and more laws and enforcement concerning performance. I know there are teachers out there doing their absolute best, but even they can’t help every child. Some performance issues of students is not fault of the school or teachers, but other problems at home or with the student themselves.

  Not everyone grows up being an engineer or inventor or whatever, and some times it isn’t the fault of the teacher or parent. Maybe this is because education isn’t as specialized as it should be, because some kids (like myself growing up) get bored with the generalized curriculum of public schools and just can’t find their niche. As an example, had I found out earlier on in life what I am now passionate about, in my opinion I would probably have been more successful in life overall. I think that is because of a lack of specialized choice in education.

  Maybe diplomas for public schools should be more like colleges at the “jr high” and/or “high school” levels, in that they are specialized to a specific field of study. Keeping children/teenagers interested in learning would be key to a successful education program, and limiting choices doesn’t do that. It also doesn’t help that a lot of public education is repetitious in nature, adding to the boredom.

  I would like to see year-round school, but get rid of the bulk of homework assignments. Most homework is unnecessary to the learning process. Occasional projects or studies is fine, but most homework prevents young people from being interested in learning from the constant bulk of pointless repetition. Homework also bogs teachers down from being able to focus on a curriculum that works, and is costly in the long run from having to have tons of paper pointlessly being wasted.

  Testing for children should not only be performance based, but also for what a child shows interest and an aptitude for. If a child prefers to read and write, then the focus for that child should have specialized classes for things like English, drama, or some other media and language related courses; while at the same time not neglecting the other aspects of education. Or if a child shows more of an interest in science/biology, then that child should have more of a curriculum based on that while not neglecting English. Children showing an interest in things like mechanics, welding or building construction and the like could possibly get an apprenticeship earlier on in life. Same for children showing an interest in law, finance, information technology, public service, agriculture, psychology, history; and so on, and so forth.

  I’m not sure how it would all work in practice, based on population size or location and distance, but these are just my suggestions. It just doesn’t make sense to keep on going down such a generalized path for the education of children. I know it didn’t work for me. I became bored and bogged down by constant pointless homework assignments. Lots of people, and I’m sure some of you reading this will agree from personal experience, still don’t know what they want to do in life. Could it be because of the overly-generalized public school system? I think so, but that’s just my opinion from personal experience. I really wish I had more aptitude testing done as a child, so I could be placed in programs I showed an interest in. It would have made learning, and school, fun. I’m actually having fun in college, learning about something I *want* to learn about, and I think that’s the whole point.

• http://www.infowars.com Pat Riote

  The School Choice program, or School Voucher program, is absolutely not a “separate but equal” problem. It’s a choice. Children of parents who wish to put their children in better schools shouldn’t be disadvantaged or prohibited from doing so simply because other parents can not or will not do so. It falls upon the school to provide worth-while education to all students, and parents who feel their children would be better off at another school shouldn’t be prohibited from doing so.

  The collective bargaining rights of teachers is just, at least in part, a perpetuation of bad educators getting paid to just do a job rather than actually educate children. There needs to be less laws prohibiting choices, and more laws and enforcement concerning performance. I know there are teachers out there doing their absolute best, but even they can’t help every child. Some performance issues of students is not fault of the school or teachers, but other problems at home or with the student themselves.

  Not everyone grows up being an engineer or inventor or whatever, and some times it isn’t the fault of the teacher or parent. Maybe this is because education isn’t as specialized as it should be, because some kids (like myself growing up) get bored with the generalized curriculum of public schools and just can’t find their niche. As an example, had I found out earlier on in life what I am now passionate about, in my opinion I would probably have been more successful in life overall. I think that is because of a lack of specialized choice in education.

  Maybe diplomas for public schools should be more like colleges at the “jr high” and/or “high school” levels, in that they are specialized to a specific field of study. Keeping children/teenagers interested in learning would be key to a successful education program, and limiting choices doesn’t do that. It also doesn’t help that a lot of public education is repetitious in nature, adding to the boredom.

  I would like to see year-round school, but get rid of the bulk of homework assignments. Most homework is unnecessary to the learning process. Occasional projects or studies is fine, but most homework prevents young people from being interested in learning from the constant bulk of pointless repetition. Homework also bogs teachers down from being able to focus on a curriculum that works, and is costly in the long run from having to have tons of paper pointlessly being wasted.

  Testing for children should not only be performance based, but also for what a child shows interest and an aptitude for. If a child prefers to read and write, then the focus for that child should have specialized classes for things like English, drama, or some other media and language related courses; while at the same time not neglecting the other aspects of education. Or if a child shows more of an interest in science/biology, then that child should have more of a curriculum based on that while not neglecting English. Children showing an interest in things like mechanics, welding or building construction and the like could possibly get an apprenticeship earlier on in life. Same for children showing an interest in law, finance, information technology, public service, agriculture, psychology, history; and so on, and so forth.

  I’m not sure how it would all work in practice, based on population size or location and distance, but these are just my suggestions. It just doesn’t make sense to keep on going down such a generalized path for the education of children. I know it didn’t work for me. I became bored and bogged down by constant pointless homework assignments. Lots of people, and I’m sure some of you reading this will agree from personal experience, still don’t know what they want to do in life. Could it be because of the overly-generalized public school system? I think so, but that’s just my opinion from personal experience. I really wish I had more aptitude testing done as a child, so I could be placed in programs I showed an interest in. It would have made learning, and school, fun. I’m actually having fun in college, learning about something I *want* to learn about, and I think that’s the whole point.

• http://www.infowars.com Pat Riote

  The School Choice program, or School Voucher program, is absolutely not a “separate but equal” problem. It’s a choice. Children of parents who wish to put their children in better schools shouldn’t be disadvantaged or prohibited from doing so simply because other parents can not or will not do so. It falls upon the school to provide worth-while education to all students, and parents who feel their children would be better off at another school shouldn’t be prohibited from doing so.

  The collective bargaining rights of teachers is just, at least in part, a perpetuation of bad educators getting paid to just do a job rather than actually educate children. There needs to be less laws prohibiting choices, and more laws and enforcement concerning performance. I know there are teachers out there doing their absolute best, but even they can’t help every child. Some performance issues of students is not fault of the school or teachers, but other problems at home or with the student themselves.

  Not everyone grows up being an engineer or inventor or whatever, and some times it isn’t the fault of the teacher or parent. Maybe this is because education isn’t as specialized as it should be, because some kids (like myself growing up) get bored with the generalized curriculum of public schools and just can’t find their niche. As an example, had I found out earlier on in life what I am now passionate about, in my opinion I would probably have been more successful in life overall. I think that is because of a lack of specialized choice in education.

  Maybe diplomas for public schools should be more like colleges at the “jr high” and/or “high school” levels, in that they are specialized to a specific field of study. Keeping children/teenagers interested in learning would be key to a successful education program, and limiting choices doesn’t do that. It also doesn’t help that a lot of public education is repetitious in nature, adding to the boredom.

  I would like to see year-round school, but get rid of the bulk of homework assignments. Most homework is unnecessary to the learning process. Occasional projects or studies is fine, but most homework prevents young people from being interested in learning from the constant bulk of pointless repetition. Homework also bogs teachers down from being able to focus on a curriculum that works, and is costly in the long run from having to have tons of paper pointlessly being wasted.

  Testing for children should not only be performance based, but also for what a child shows interest and an aptitude for. If a child prefers to read and write, then the focus for that child should have specialized classes for things like English, drama, or some other media and language related courses; while at the same time not neglecting the other aspects of education. Or if a child shows more of an interest in science/biology, then that child should have more of a curriculum based on that while not neglecting English. Children showing an interest in things like mechanics, welding or building construction and the like could possibly get an apprenticeship earlier on in life. Same for children showing an interest in law, finance, information technology, public service, agriculture, psychology, history; and so on, and so forth.

  I’m not sure how it would all work in practice, based on population size or location and distance, but these are just my suggestions. It just doesn’t make sense to keep on going down such a generalized path for the education of children. I know it didn’t work for me. I became bored and bogged down by constant pointless homework assignments. Lots of people, and I’m sure some of you reading this will agree from personal experience, still don’t know what they want to do in life. Could it be because of the overly-generalized public school system? I think so, but that’s just my opinion from personal experience. I really wish I had more aptitude testing done as a child, so I could be placed in programs I showed an interest in. It would have made learning, and school, fun. I’m actually having fun in college, learning about something I *want* to learn about, and I think that’s the whole point.

• http://www.infowars.com Pat Riote

  And there is another problem with education: Politics. This isn’t a left vs right issue, it’s a national issue. Every year that goes by, children in America are doing worse and worse compared to children of other countries. We need to stop bickering about who gets the money, and start doing what works. It shouldn’t matter if a private school gets money, so long as they get results. This is especially true if the tax dollars that pay for public education is paid for (as a huge percentage, overall) by property taxes.

  The point is, it doesn’t matter who is paying property tax. The point is, school is mandatory. People have to pay property taxes whether or not their child is in a public school or a private school, and that is unfair.

• Anonymous

  We need charter schools for the 50% of students that come to school from homes that don’t have any focus on their students, literally many of our kids are being raised by parents that are still acting like kids.

  Kids that have had three “fathers”, kids that don’t have lunch money and aren’t fed breakfast, kids that don’t or won’t have a prayer at going to college.

  Maine’s  genuine college prep kids are doing fine. The fact that due to declining enrollment, colleges accept anyone makes schools  look bad.

  And what does Mr. Bowen of the” Heritage Club” propose that our kids should be prepared for? Job placement at Maine’s university system was almost non-existant this year, even engineering was off. Nobody talks about the elephant in the room and that is that outside of health occupations, there’s little out there for today’s grads.

  Bowen is right, there are lots of problems to solve. The solution is to start investing in this country rather than foreign wars.

• Harry H Snyder III

  The age old problem remains.  Children from financially bereft families, communities, and States will not get the same experience with education as children from rich families (who, incidentally, already have school choice like NOTHING public schools can offer. 

  My High School had a world class auto shop.  as a teenager that would have been my choice for a career.  Luckily my parents intervened. The school also offered mechanical drawing, and I could take that while on the academic track.

  Back in those days, General Motors had a Fisher body plant just down the road in North Tarrytown. They would hire all the graduates they could get from my school’s auto shop.  Even back in 1968, they were paying $16.50 an hour. I worked there briefly and decided I was not built to put the left tail light on Chevrolets $12 an hour (for non-shop graduates) not withstanding. 

  White Plains High also had a theater program and sent several graduates on to Broadway.  The school  had an electronics shop, a wood shop, a cooking program  connected to the Culinary Institute and a two part driver’s education program which was mandatory if you wanted a diploma. There were after school clubs (free of extra charge) chess, a Basket Ball clinic where the New York Knicks sent scouts, and Westchester Historical sites program.  I don’t think most people who go through high school are presented with the opportunities offered (and often rejected) at my high school.  I do not see a way, short of national funding of education, where communities less wealthy than Westchester County could compete.  It is damn unfair.  many many Maine children deserve these opportunities more than me and some of my classmates, who thought we were owed this kind of life. 

• Anonymous

  If only I’d gone to school in White Plains, N.Y, instead of West Islip, N.Y., I’d have played for the Knicks. My turn-around jumper was unstoppable then (and still is). Have a great holiday weekend, Harry.

• Anonymous

  But problems come when people with political or ideological agendas use
  the need for transforming public schools to tear down or make changes
  that serve narrow goals.  ~~~BDN

  I am curious. Isn’t that the system we have set up now?  I mean an educational system set up to serve a political and ideological agenda with narrow goals.

• Harry H Snyder III

  We had this guy who was just a smidgen under seven feet tall.  He could literally put the ball in the basket without much of a jump.  I think he dated every second girl in that school at least once.  Turned out he didn’t like basketball and went on to be baggage handler at Kennedy.

  In my old age I find that history makes itself.

  Happy fourth to you too! Lubec Maine is turning 200 this weekend, come on down and join the festivities.

• Harry H Snyder III

  What is unfair is that those of us who have NO children must pay for those who do.

• Harry H Snyder III

  What is unfair is that those of us who have NO children must pay for those who do.

• http://www.infowars.com Pat Riote

  Oh, I agree with that too. But such is the social programs, you get some of us who pay and don’t use, or use and don’t pay. It’s just bound to happen. So what do we do about it to make it fair?

• http://www.infowars.com Pat Riote

  Oh, I agree with that too. But such is the social programs, you get some of us who pay and don’t use, or use and don’t pay. It’s just bound to happen. So what do we do about it to make it fair?

• Anonymous

  With that kind of logic I could say it’s unfair for me to pay taxes for improvements to Route 295.  I never use it and would pledge to stay off it.  Add to that improvements to coastal Route 1 and any road downeast.  And how about requiring anyone who needs the services of the local fire or police department  to pay in advance?

• Harry H Snyder III

  It is simple really.  Let people pay the true and full cost of ALL their actions.  People who choose to have children and can’t pay the freight should be treated like deadbeat dads, who lose professional licenses driver;’s licenses and property until they have paid off their debt.  Subsidizing irresponsible behavior makes me angry.

  People who create no children are the most abused minority in this Country. 

• Anonymous

  Since Mckernan (undoubtedly before as well) every governor and education commissioner has come in with the goal of re-inventing education. There is a song and dance routine, people learn their parts, and the performance begins. Even the audience has a role. And throughout, the students keep learning and the teachers keep teaching. Education by mandate, education by micro-management, education by resource deprivation. I had hopes when LePage cut back on the inaugural festivities, but I wonder now. Mr. Bowen is new to this job. He has a heavy backing in the Heritage Society who are in the wings ready to call the shots. It is their playbook that he had planned on using. But I wonder now. The schools are doing a lot of good things. There are a lot of great teachers. Which brick can come out of the wall without damage. Will this administration erect a structural facade as did Gendron, or will they help schools. Where will education be cut, where will it be supported? Gendron was about testing and dismantling the vocational schools. She talked standards but was clueless. She talked about the jobs of the future. It didn’t take long to see there was not much substance there. She was a saleswoman making a pitch, and not much else. I hope Mr. Bowen is more than that. I hope he doesn’t think he has all the answers and takes the status-quo with a grain or two of salt.  I hope he is willing to learn, and continues to listen, and supports the schools of Maine.  Mrs. Gendron was not. She was a cheat who played a shell game.

• Anonymous

  Colleges are still highly selective, but there are a lot of colleges. Maine’s community colleges accept most anyone and then use accu-placer to determine if they are ready for college or remedial classes.

• Anonymous

  Colleges are still highly selective, but there are a lot of colleges. Maine’s community colleges accept most anyone and then use accu-placer to determine if they are ready for college or remedial classes.

• Anonymous

  Some students are just not as smart as other students. Some students are smarter than other students. Same as with athletics, same for mechanical aptitude. Some kids just cannot master what is being taught at the upper range in a high school no matter how much time, or how good the teacher is. No one is denied the opportunity, but not everyone can do it. It is criminal to shove these students into a 4 year college track curriculum. Schools are cutting the extras that these kids need – shop, art, music, home-econ, sports because budgets are tight. Too often talk about education is pointless – even with their eyes open the people can’t see the elephant in the room.

• Anonymous

  The US is not falling behind in performance. Our top students do just as well as their top students. They are not measuring the performance of all of their students as we are.

• Anonymous

  So if I buy a car, I should pay a road tax?  Have kids, pay a school tax?  Own a house, pay a fire tax?

  I certainly pay quite a bit in property taxes to a town where my children don’t go to school and I hardly ever drive on the streets…never when they require plowing.  Should I complain?

• Anonymous

  Did you have a public education? You are paying for public education so that the teller in the bank does not make mistakes in handling your money, so the multitude of people around you are literate and understand what you say and write. This is a public service the US provides its citizens. Nothing is free. For that reason we support education through our tax dollars.

• Anonymous

  Career tracking that connects the voc. schools with specialized and corporate training out of state is badly needed. Pre-engineering programs in Rockland , i.e. STEM, would be more successful if tied to applicable ‘next step’ credentialing programs. 

  For example, it’s one thing to teach someone to install Solar panels, yet another to get them enrolled in a certificate course or started in an electrician licensing program, or in a manufacturer’s installation program that knows who is buying the panels and where the jobs are.  

  Nor does it appear that programs, like automotive electronics, which are over subscribed and have long waiting lists are being expanded accordingly.  It would help if DOE modified its ‘LIBERAL ARTS’ orientation and starting prepping kids for an increasingly sophistication job market….if people only knew how much Asian and European kids know when they graduate from a secondary school, and the rigorous screening global industries use to recruit new hires!

• Anonymous

  LEARNING RESULTS was designed in the 90′s to prepare students for a LIBERAL ARTS education; and look what all those art history majors are doing today?

• Anonymous

  LEARNING RESULTS was designed in the 90′s to prepare students for a LIBERAL ARTS education; and look what all those art history majors are doing today?

• Anonymous

  If you were paying attention,Bowen spent the last six months LISTENING to local educators and stakeholders.  

  I don’t ever remember Gendron ‘listening’ to anyone. 

  ‘poorly designed tests’…oh, those stupid people at the College Boards and their dumb SAT tests, or the NAEP’s for 4th and 8th graders.  I’m so glad we have smart people like you to design better ones. 

• Anonymous

  Gendron had her listening tours, too (different names, but still public relations expeditions).  

  But people in those positions don’t really hear what’s being said unless it conforms to their preconceived ideas.  Don’t think charter schools are the answer to public education’s alleged woes? Don’t bother to say so to Mr. Bowen.  Wondering if standards-based education is really any different from the As, Bs and Cs we all got throughout school? It’s not a question worth raising. 

  As a Principal I used to work with said, “Just wait a few years; everything new becomes old and there’s something else that’s the magic answer.” 

• Anonymous

  If I understand correctly, you think that kids should just focus on what interests them in school.  
   - Would kindergarteners demand to learn how to read?
   - Would 3rd and 4th-graders clamor to learn multiplication tables? 
   - Would 7th and 8th-graders issue urgent calls to learn about Maine history?  
   - Would high-school students push for instruction about Shakespeare? or Algebra? or Chemistry? 

  And, how would any of those students become aware those topics exist without someone (a teacher, say) pointing it out?  

  The idea that kids know what they need, not just what they want, doesn’t make a lot of sense.  Public schools have a responsibility to teach every child who walks through their doors as much as they can.  It’s not an easy task and having a Commissioner of Education who truly understands and appreciates that would be refreshing. I haven’t decided if Mr. Bowen is that person or not.

• Anonymous

  You do use I-295, indirectly, as goods that you purchase undoubtedly come via that route at times.  You’re right, though – Harry also uses the education received by those kids his taxes pay to educate – one of them is his doctor, another is his dentist, another his mechanic, and so on.

  Don’t forget that those kids are voters, too.  If economic matters are subjected to voting, I’d rather have someone in the voting booth with some idea of basic economic principles.  If the issue politically is “too much government” versus “too little government”, I’d rather see the electorate discussing these matters with some notion of how and why big government came to be.  It really is a much more complicated matter than explained by the latest conspiracy theory.