Education for Johnny or Porking the DoD

For US students, Defense Department’s National Security Education Program, will be infusing more than $750 million during the 2007 to 2011 fiscal years to groom skilled personnel in languages deemed critical."

"[T]his program is a part of a strategic goal, and that is to protect this country in the short term and protect it in the long term by spreading freedom,” said Bush. "We’re facing an ideological struggle, and we're going to win."

"That’s what people in this country expect of our government," said Bush. "They expect us to be wise about how we use our resources, and a good use of resources is to promote this language initiative in K through 12, in our universities."

The president did not discuss with the college presidents the much larger language initiative, which is coming through the Defense Department.

Additionally, $27 million would go toward creating continuous language study programs, beginning in kindergarten and going through graduate school, through the Defense Department’s National Security Education Program. That initiative will require a commitment to work in a government job for at least two years. Officials did not have exact details about the continuous programs, but they said that kindergartners would not be in danger of committing to government labor.

--- Although I've always supported the idea of teaching foreign languages in kindergarten, it wasn't through DoD. Some critics suggest moving the program to the Department of Education - sure, then we can go back to sleep as the DOE is trustworthy.

My vote says this is more federal departmental pork than education; hog heaven, grooming a few faithful piglets for future service.