It is the teachers who are able to reach out to students most often, and they have a very challenging role in the educating and shaping of the students minds. This is why President Obama insists on improving the performance standards of teachers. He wants more accountability for teachers, and one of the ways to push teachers towards quality performance is to give them rewards such as a higher salary. The President wants teachers to be trained and allowed to perform like the professionals that they are. This new approach to education plans to increase the teacher’s salary up to as much as $150,000 annually, if possible.

Obama wants to extend the education in the United States as well as raise the U.S. wages for teachers to further improve education in America. Obama sited that students from other countries around the world go to school on average a month longer than those in the United States. This one month creates such a big difference that it puts the other countries at an advantage and gives them an economic edge. Obama said that the students should be competent in areas such as math and science, as these are the subject areas where American students lag behind other countries.

The President also supports merit pay for teachers. Merit pay means that the teachers will be given salaries or bonuses based on their performance and on the results they produce in class. Merit pay for teachers could mean that they get paid bonuses based on an assessment of what students have learned. Merit pay also means additional pay for teachers working in high risk schools. Money would also be given to teachers specializing in subjects like science, math, and special needs. Another set of teachers who can benefit from merit pay are those who take on leadership roles and to those who complete higher education such as an additional degree or certification.

A field reporter for CNN caught Palin after she cast her ballot and asked her who gets her support. Palin declined to be specific and would rather keep her silence on the matter.

“I would not tell you who I voted for in this presidential preference poll,” Palin flatly told the reporter. The former running mate of John McCain during the 2008 US presidential election also expressed her interest to see the current presidential nominees go through the long process of selection.

“I do believe that competition makes all of our candidates better,” Palin said.

Palin’s husband Todd already announced that he is supporting Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign.

The interview also provided Palin a platform to hurl some comments against President Barack Obama and his administration. Palin has been a vocal critic of Obama and his policies, especially on the War on Terror campaign and the rising deficits of the government.

“I want to see the process continue, more debate about who it is who can bust through the Orwellian Obama rhetoric and pandering that we see in the incumbent.

“Remember, there are five men running for president, and I think Barack Obama is the worst choice, is the last choice. So the four in front of him, as they duke it out in the arena of ideas and solutions to propose, the more of that, the better,” Palin stated in an interview.

Although not explicitly, Palin slightly hinted of a possible presidential run in 2016. When pressed for a concrete statement about running in 2016, the former Alaska governor simply said “anything in this life, in this world is possible.”

She also added that she is seriously considering “whatever I can do to help our country to put things back on the right track.”

Her appearance on CNN caught many by surprise, since Palin is now a paid analyst for Fox News.

Palin started her political career as a councilor of the City of Wasilla in 1992. Four years later, the former Miss Alaska third runner-up caused a momentous upset by beating incumbent Wasilla City Mayor John Stein. In 1999, Palin ran for mayor and faced Stein again and won by a huge margin, 909 votes to 292.

After her second term as Mayor of Wasilla, Palin ran for lieutenant governor in 2002 but was defeated by Loren Leman in a five-nominee Republican primary.  In 2006, she successfully wrested the Republican gubernatorial nomination from incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski. She went on to defeat ex Democratic governor Tony Knowles by a margin of 48.3% to 40.9%. In the process, Palin became the first female-governor of Alaska.

Palin is well known to the world as the woman who ran for vice president in 2008. Since registering in 1982, Palin has remained a solid Republican.

For years, there have been organizations and independent individuals who have tried to break the two-party system to introduce their own brand of politics. Texan Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 and 1996 and received 19% and 8.5% of the total number of votes respectively. Perot is the only independent candidate to garner that many votes. Another independent candidate, Howard Phillips, also ran twice, both in 1992 and 1996. None of them succeeded.

As they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and even today many people believe that the two-party system has been working well for the United States. It is not hard to understand that most people tend to side with tradition, especially if concepts like familiarity and loyalty are part of the equation. There are more than 300 million Americans living right now and about 170 million are registered to vote. 72 million are registered as Democrats while the Republicans have 55 million. Around 42 million are registered as independent voters. Basically, it is a numbers game.

That said, a significant number of Americans are now emerging to question the effectiveness of the two-party system. Many say the system is polarizing not only the political makeup of the country, but the entire structure of how Americans should live their lives. It has become an “either or” and leaving no room for everything else.

Arianna Huffington debated in her column that the two-party system is only good in providing short-term solutions to big crises such as the increasing costs of health care, the dwindling quality of public school education, and the dilapidation of infrastructure. And because voters are primed and conditioned to choose either one, choices are not only narrowed, but potential alternatives that might stem outside the two-party system are not even considered anymore.

Huffington summed the two-party system as “a stale marriage that needs a third party to spice things up.”

It might take a while before the desired effects of anti-two-party system campaigns becomes concrete. But it is clear that breaking the system down is a better alternative. It is only a matter of time before most Americans will realize that.

In the past 24 hours, peaceful student protesters were reportedly fired upon with rubber bullets by the police.

This uncalled for brutality is nothing new:

… Unsurprisingly, internet commentators have been pointing out that while our president has always been quick to condemn police brutality in conflicts abroad, he has remained largely silent about what is now occurring here at home.

Informing workers of their options may not be a bad thing, but forcing workplaces to be the ones to do it is another thing entirely. Insiders have drawn the link between this strong push on behalf of the unions and the millions of dollars they donated to Obama’s last election campaign.