The Education Blob –Tonight at 9 pm ET with John Stossel

John Stossel thinks our public schools can do a better job and that those who try to make improvements run up against the "BLOB." Watch tonight as he takes a look at what he describes as this Jabba-the-Hutt like thing that can barely be budged.

In the show, Stossel addresses President Obama’s proposal to spend more on Pre-K education. We hear from Steve Barnett, of the National Institute for Early Education Research, who says universal pre-school would be a good thing. But Darcy Olsen, of the Goldwater Institute, says it would not.  Stossel explains that the government’s own data shows that even popular programs like Head Start have no lasting effect. Stossel invites us to hear why some believe early schooling is best while other believe keeping the kids home makes more sense.

And, keeping kids home well beyond pre-k is what more and more parents are doing as they make the decision to homeschool. "They don't think it's worth it to fight the education BLOB," Stossel explains. Instead, they escape it. "Unschooling" (a form of homeschooling) mom, Amy Milstein, and 14-year-old "unschooler,” Jude Steffers-Wilson, talk about a how they take the reins on their own education.

Contrasting that we hear from Charter school founder Ben Chavis (educator) who calls progressive education, communist education. He is proud that his students are at the ready to drop and give him 20 in an effort to make them learn.  Even though his American Indian charter schools in California have  top test scores they may be shut down. Troy Flint, of the Oakland  school board, says the school's founder, Chavis is a crook who "profited" from the school. We'll hear them debate.

On the show we also hear from Stossel’s Special Correspondent, Kennedy and Joe Del Grosso, the head of the Newark, New Jersey Teachers Union. Del Grosso hates for-profit competition and both believe that if parents want quality education opportunities like those found in private schools, then parents need to work to be able to afford such luxuries. For those who don’t there is public school. They both live what they preach. Del Grosso’s mother struggled to provide a private education for him and Kennedy chooses a private Reggio Emilia school for her children.

We’ll also hear from Michelle Rhee who in her former role of school Chancellor wanted to make changes in Washington D.C. She'll talk about her new book, Radical: Fighting to Put Students First.  

You can tune in to Fox Business at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time tonight. If you do, let’s talk about what we see. On Twitter use hashtag #EdBlob and you can mention John Stossel using the handle @FBNStossel. You can also chat on this topic on Stossel’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JohnStossel.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2013/03/07/education-blob-airs-tonight-9pm-et-fox-business-0#ixzz2MtTYf39W