Generally speaking, I don’t approve of shutting down the US Government.

I mean, given the fact that we pay those bozos a pretty good wage to run the government, I think that they should do their jobs and just shut up.

Generally speaking, I don’t think that Congress should hold the rest of us hostage to their personal vendettas and their insane attempts to bolster their bona fides for the 2016 election.

Generally speaking, I would rather have them pass a budget, pay the bills and keep the Social Security checks coming.

On the other hand.

Maybe they could just shut down the Department of Education for a while?

You know, maybe they could let those guys in that Department just cool off, take some down time, have a nice glass of wine and chill?

It might be a good thing for the children in this country if the folks at the Department of Education stopped trying to outdo each other in an attempt to “create 21st century learners”.

It would absolutely be a good thing for the children in this country if the good folks at the Department of Education stopped trying to train kindergarteners for meaningful careers in a global market.

I did not make that last part up. That’s the basis of the Common Core Standards that we’re all supposed to be implementing.  Five year olds are supposed to be training toward “core skills that enable them to compete in a global market.”

So maybe, just maybe, it would be really a wonderful turn of events if the Department of Education is forced to close its doors for a bit.  Kids could learn “core skills” like how to listen thoughtfully, how to share with friends and how to have fun while learning interesting things.

Maybe if teachers could stop worrying about racing through math, science, history, technology and literacy before the test dates, we could let the kids investigate concepts at their own pace, so they might actually understand what it is that they are trying to learn. Maybe if we could stop drilling every child every day, we could guide them toward discovering information for themselves.  Maybe if we didn’t have to train them to take tests and constantly test them, we could spend some time helping them learn how to solve problems. Maybe we could help them learn how to work cooperatively toward a shared goal, even when they disagree with each other.

I know that Congress is filled with nut cakes who just want to out shout each other, and they really should figure out a way to get along and get the job done. They should solve their problems and not let everything come to a crashing halt.

But maybe if we can shut down the government for a while, and shut down the DOE, we can try letting kids be kids for a change, and they might actually have the time to learn how to compromise and get along.

And maybe in the future, we’ll have a Congress full of happy, well rounded, thoughtful adults who learned back in elementary school that it is more important to be considerate than to be right.