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Education Is A Right?

How would you categorize education?

  • It is a basic American right.

    Votes: 15 46.9%

  • It is a privilege.

    Votes: 11 34.4%

  • Other

    Votes: 6 18.8%
  • Total voters
    32
Cilogy

Cilogy

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What do you think?

Is an education (in general, public schooling, grade school, college, etc.) a basic right for Americans or is it a privilege for Americans?
 
I think a basic education is a right and should remain compulsory. As in elementary school and junior high. Anything after that is a privilege.
 
It's not a right. But it is a necessity to the health and longevity of the Republic.
 
I don't believe people have a lot of rights, but education is one of them. Everyone should get a fair chance to succeed at life.
 
I absolutely think it is a right. Without a good education citizens would be doomed to be ignorant the rest of their lives and be less productive in the cultural advancement of our society.

I have an idea on this topic that I think would be cheap and effective...

Concerning higher education (after high school), citizens could use an online resource similar to Wikipedia, but with confirmed factual information. The service would be free and sustained with donations. Citizens can study which ever subject they want. When they feel they have proper knowledge of a topic, they can go to a location to pay a small fee to take a test in a physical location (Department of Education Credits or something) and try to earn "credits" in that subject. Jobs could then list off certain subject requirements to qualify for a job.

Sure there wouldn't be as much hands on work, but some continued education is better than none at all.

What I think would be great about this is people could study in their free time and money wouldn't be an issue.
 
A good rule of thumb is that if it is necessary for a modern society to function, than we should make it a right.

However the details, such as the debate about all public vs charter schools, aren't as important as long as the basics are taken care of.
 
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Ikari said:
It's not a right. But it is a necessity to the health and longevity of the Republic.
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Then why not make it a right?
 
Cilogy said:
Then why not make it a right?
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Because it's not a right. You can make it a form of social contract, but it's not a right. I suppose you can argue some form of liberty angle, but it would have to be a damned good argument based in Locke or Kant theory to buy into it. Understanding that an educated populace is a necessity to the health and longevity of a democratic Republic doesn't automatically throw education into the "right" wing. It is a responsibility, a duty for sure; but I'm not so sure that at this point I'd go all out and call it a right.
 
Democracy cannot be considered valid without an informed citizenry. Education is essential for Democracy.
 
Ikari said:
Because it's not a right. You can make it a form of social contract, but it's not a right. I suppose you can argue some form of liberty angle, but it would have to be a damned good argument based in Locke or Kant theory to buy into it. Understanding that an educated populace is a necessity to the health and longevity of a democratic Republic doesn't automatically throw education into the "right" wing. It is a responsibility, a duty for sure; but I'm not so sure that at this point I'd go all out and call it a right.
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So we have the right to bear arms in formation of a militia (which I am not against), but not to arm ourselves with education?
 
Cilogy said:
So we have the right to bear arms in formation of a militia (which I am not against), but not to arm ourselves with education?
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That's for the physical enforcement of rights and liberty. As I said, you'd have to make a damned good argument for me to buy into education being a right.
 
Ikari said:
That's for the physical enforcement of rights and liberty. As I said, you'd have to make a damned good argument for me to buy into education being a right.
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I hate to say it, but there's no reason to. Libertarians never make more than single digit percentages of votes in any election.
 
megaprogman said:
I hate to say it, but there's no reason to. Libertarians never make more than single digit percentages of votes in any election.
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What does that have to do with the topic? Are rights determined then by how much of the vote Libertarians capture? Damn, people should start voting for us more often then so we can get more rights!
 
Ikari said:
What does that have to do with the topic? Are rights determined then by how much of the vote Libertarians capture? Damn, people should start voting for us more often then so we can get more rights!
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Essentially that's how it works. Rights are determined by the laws we make.

We have made schooling compulsory and provided for it, so therefore its a right.

Now if the question was "should education be a right" going into various philosophies might matter.
 
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Election victories

Libertarians have had mixed success in electing candidates at the state and local level. Following the 2002 elections, according to its site,[25] 599 Libertarians held elected or appointed local offices and appointed state offices. As of January 2010, 143 Libertarians Nationwide, hold elected office: 31 of them partisan offices, and 112 of them non-partisan offices[26]. Since the party's creation, twelve Libertarians have been elected to state legislatures, though none hold office currently. The most recent Libertarian candidate elected to a state legislatures was Steve Vaillancourt to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2000. Vaillancourt, a Democratic member of the House with libertarian leanings, had lost the Democratic primary for a seat in the New Hampshire Senate that year and accepted the Libertarian nomination so as to keep his House seat..[27]

After the party's 21 electoral victories in November 2008, there are now 207 elected Libertarians serving in office across the United States [10]. In comparison, the Green Party had 48 electoral victories in 2008 [11], and 193 Greens currently serve in public office.

Libertarian Party (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So it's not a lot, but it completely disproves your broad sweeping statement. Had to get more than single digit in an election to win a seat.
 
Ikari said:
Election victories

Libertarians have had mixed success in electing candidates at the state and local level. Following the 2002 elections, according to its site,[25] 599 Libertarians held elected or appointed local offices and appointed state offices. As of January 2010, 143 Libertarians Nationwide, hold elected office: 31 of them partisan offices, and 112 of them non-partisan offices[26]. Since the party's creation, twelve Libertarians have been elected to state legislatures, though none hold office currently. The most recent Libertarian candidate elected to a state legislatures was Steve Vaillancourt to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2000. Vaillancourt, a Democratic member of the House with libertarian leanings, had lost the Democratic primary for a seat in the New Hampshire Senate that year and accepted the Libertarian nomination so as to keep his House seat..[27]

After the party's 21 electoral victories in November 2008, there are now 207 elected Libertarians serving in office across the United States [10]. In comparison, the Green Party had 48 electoral victories in 2008 [11], and 193 Greens currently serve in public office.

Libertarian Party (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So it's not a lot, but it completely disproves your broad sweeping statement. Had to get more than single digit in an election to win a seat.
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Sorry, I should have qualified, I was referring to national elections.
 
A public education (elementary through high school) is a right of citizenship and or legal residency. Pretty much that simple.
 
Arcana XV said:
I think a basic education is a right and should remain compulsory. As in elementary school and junior high. Anything after that is a privilege.
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A compulsory right??????? :confused:
 
megaprogman said:
Sorry, I should have qualified, I was referring to national elections.
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Awesome. So then stop reading all of my posts since according to you my opinion doesn't matter. Even though the question was asked as to whether or not it's a right, which would be an opinionated question. And the fact that this is an internet political board meant to exchange ideas and arguments from various political ideologies. We should in fact disallow anyone on this board who does not self-identify as a Republican or Democrat since everyone else doesn't matter. Stifle dissent, stifle opposition, stifle different political ideology.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
A public education (elementary through high school) is a right of citizenship and or legal residency. Pretty much that simple.
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It's not a right, it's a responsibility of the parents of any child in our society.

Geezzzzzzzzz. The next thing you know food is going to be a right….. You know, because if you don’t have food, how can you be expected to vote responsibly.... :roll:
 
Ikari said:
Awesome. So then stop reading all of my posts since according to you my opinion doesn't matter. Even though the question was asked as to whether or not it's a right, which would be an opinionated question. And the fact that this is an internet political board meant to exchange ideas and arguments from various political ideologies. We should in fact disallow anyone on this board who does not self-identify as a Republican or Democrat since everyone else doesn't matter. Stifle dissent, stifle opposition, stifle different political ideology.
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Ok. I will ignore you expanding the statement of a simple fact into some sort of attack on differences of opinion. The point wasn't stifling dissent. The point is that connecting the idea of education being a right to some old philosophers and their followers is not necessary because society has progressed since that time.
 
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megaprogman said:
Ok. I will ignore you expanding the statement of a simple fact into some sort of attack on differences of opinion. The point wasn't stifling dissent, it was based on the observation that needing to be convinced wasn't necessary in the grand scheme of things.
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Your point was to completely dismiss the opinions of some 13% of the electorate.
 
Ikari said:
That's for the physical enforcement of rights and liberty. As I said, you'd have to make a damned good argument for me to buy into education being a right.
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I can tell you, I'm not convinced either, which is why I asked you. So far the only thing you've said is that "its a necessary thing," which I agree with, but are you also saying that its a privilege?

I'll give you my reasoning:

Its human nature to learn, as well as to teach. If we make education a special privilege, then it teaches kids that you have to earn EVERYTHING in life. I agree that we should earn most things, but some things we should be born with, like the right to education in a structured society. If we lived in a third world country, I would agree with you more.
 
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Crunch said:
It's not a right, it's a responsibility of the parents of any child in our society.
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No it isn't, because not all parents are good teachers.

I think it's a responsibility of the state to provide education and basic socialization to children. I think it's the responsibility of the state to provide elementary, high school, a vocational skill, and an academic education. People should be forced to learn an elementary and high school education but not a vocational skill nor an academic education. So every person should have the opportunity to learn a vocational skill or academic education so they can have the skills necessary to earn their own living and be less of a burden on the welfare system.
 
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