This is an excerpt from a speech I gave during a recent debate class. I am the sole author of this material.

1. John's Opening Speech
Monday, November 29, 2010
6:59 PM
Former President Ronald Reagan once said, "There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls
around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect." The history of
American education appears to have a similar landscape, with various obstacles continuing to stand in
the way of progress. If obstacles continue to hinder significant progress, the major question then
becomes what is a mutually agreed upon level of progress in education? Are we happy with the small
positive change if we can somehow ignore the larger negative one? When it comes to progress as a
collective educational system and nation, are we content to have some states make larger strides while
many others continue to struggle? With history not on the side of individualism, we come here today to
debate the possibility of highly regulated, and in some cases, federally regulated education producing
positive and measurable educational benefits in and out of the classroom. As educational leaders aren't
we bold enough to say its time to make a radical change for the good of our students? For everyone in
this room, aren't we pursuing a deeper knowledge in our various fields of education for that for very
reason? Isn't the whole reason here to make a difference, and if it is, shouldn't we be prepared to
implement educational plans that work and that have solid research to prove that they work? The
debate today will absolutely bring up personal issues and prior misconceptions. The point is, that
regardless of where you are in your educational career, the American educational system, as a whole is
currently NOT working. We are doing ourselves, our students, and the families of those students a
disservice by continuing on with the status quo. The time to change is now. We can't continue on like
this. Our problems continue to grow into immovable obstacles, swamped in circular arguments and
negative discourse.
Representing the pro or for side, the topic statement that we submit for debate today is that highly
regulated schools utilize many best practices, thereby enhancing the overall education of students.
In order to further specify our points of debate, we have chosen to focus the bulk of our argument
centering around existing research and theory at the K-12 level. While there are certainly cases for
school regulation at other educational levels, we feel that regulated education as a whole serves as a
more meaningful purpose on the K-12 stage.
Our arguments today aren't based in fantasy- they are drawn from real research and case studies where
regulation in schools is having real and measurable success. The links created to scientific advancements
in the human brain and human memory will also serve as additional reminders that students, teachers,
administrators, and community leaders all are beginning to see the benefits of highly regulated best
practices in the K-12 classroom.
I will now open the floor to my teammate Meera, who will go into further detail on what we feel as the
pro group are the appropriate definitions and contexts for those definitions that shaped the entire
scope of our argument.
The 3rd Debate- Pro Group Page 1