Funny, I was just thinking "Keep em' Stupid" could be the Democrats' motto too, considering they are linked hand-in-hand with the NEA, a teacher's union that essentially bribes Democrats into preventing any accountability from ever being introduced into the teaching profession. As a result, you get incompetent teachers whose classrooms produce dumbed-down students whose view of life is that everything they want is a "right", and the money to provide that "right" will take care of itself. The perfect recipe for another generation of Democratic voters.

By the way, only about 6% of public school funding comes from Federal funds. Maybe throwing money at the problem isn't entirely the answer... In case you're wondering, Washington D.C. City Schools spend over $9,000 per year per student, the most in the nation among public school systems. Amazingly enough, this has not translated to academic success among its students.

Everyone reading this should also keep in mind that when a liberal refers to a "Cut" in funding, what they actually refer to is a "reduction in the amount of increase". Very rarely does any section of the federal budget recieve a "cut", i.e., funding that's less in real dollars than it was the year before.

I place my fair share of blame on Republicans, too, for being so whipped that they won't stand up and take charge on the issue of education. If they'd get off the whole religion issue for five seconds, follow the dollars, and calm down just a wee bit on trying to reinvent the 80's style military-industrial complex, there'd be plenty of money to spend on education, even though the above D.C. example shows that money alone won't get the job done. All that being said, if more money will solve part of the problem, the best way for it to do so is for Education to be funded out of a state's general budget, rather than at the local level based on property taxes. The current system virtually ensures that rich kids have nicer, newer schools and the most current technology and poor kids get stuck in older buildings with older books and equipment. This is a total crock, if you ask me. That being said, there hasn't exactly been much new in the world of basic math and algebra in a couple of centuries, nor do I recall any new letters being added to the alphabet in that time frame, so there's no hinderance in someone learning basic information from an old book vs. a new book.
Education reform will begin to work when the government realizes that 1. Parents are the most important part in helping a child learn, 2. Two parents are better than one for a child, 3. Teacher accountability is crucial to a child's development. (What if doctors or electricians were held accountable like NEA members? You'd get shocked turning on a light, go to the hospital, and the doctor would finish you off. Then they'd both demand tenure.)