Dan Forest: Right Must Claim Education Agenda

At CLC, Dan Forest blames “media malpractice” for public’s ignorance about what has happened in education in NC. But conservatives need to claim the issue, as conservatives are champions of opportunity.

“As conservatives, it is time for us to offer a principled model of education,” he said. But it can’t be based on a 19th century model, but on a modern one.

Our system “is based on an industrial revolution model,” he said. “But our education model became a widget-making factory as well.”

Consider what telephones used to be. Now we not only have cellphones, we can have a virtually unlimited number of services on it, thanks to independent app makers. “That’s kind of what we are talking about with education,” he said.

“Regulations and mandates have been stacked up on each other,” he said. So bureaucracy grows, and parents and children grow frustrated. Government has a role, but in creating a parent- and child-centered educational system. “They think they care more about your child than you do,” he said. “That’s just not true.”

We need a relentless focus on the truth, even if the truth about our schools is disquieting. We have to accept disruptive change. “Then we need to have an app for that.”

And conservatives are in charge in NC. “Shame on us if we fail,” he concluded.