School Choice and School Funding

The United States Office of Education was established in 1867 and was created for the purpose of collecting statistics and facts as to the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories. It was also used in distributing information respecting the organization and management of schools, and school systems on methods of teaching, as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.  The President appointed a commissioner and the Senate had to approve them. Among its duties are those related to research, cooperation with school authorities, and administration of federal laws relating to colleges, vocational education and rehabilitation, the blind, and, training workers for war employments.

Throughout our history, there has always been a battle for those who want complete federal control of every aspect of our lives based on the “general welfare” clause mentioned in our US Constitution, and such that Congress has granted powers that have exceedingly overstepped its ability to manage, improve or maintain the current level of agencies implemented upon the public citizens of America.  According to the Hoover Commission, Task Force Report on Public Welfare in 1949, it states, “Among the varied and numerous activities of government, there is none closer guarded from excessive Federal control than education.”  Americans back then realized the dangers of centralizing the influence of our education, and those whose views of leaving it to the local districts as they saw fit must have ignored or were beguiled to accept federal aid in exchange for liberty.

Throughout the decades the scope of the federal involvement has increased significantly and the scope of the federal aid for special purposes has created a system of education that is inferior, unmanageable and heavy laden with entitlements. The sole purpose of public schools should be education, and establishing the proper mechanisms to create a well educated public. This responsibility prior to the Progressive Movement was on the state and local levels. The State’s function in education was to support a system of public schools in order that the masses of the people may be educated. The country needs good citizens; to be good citizens the people must be intelligent, and to be intelligent they must obtain an education.

There is enough evidence to suggest that the enormous Federal involvement and overwhelming reach of Congressional authority on our citizenry has had a negative impact on society with minimal improvements in the completed product; our citizens. We are now lead to believe that we are in this deplorable state of inadequate productivity, creativity, and world competitiveness reflected by the  number of special interests, entitlements, and inefficient or ineffective programs (No Child Left Behind, School Lunches Program and Positive Awards Program) draining our strength and purpose to successfully govern our country.

The Department of Education needs to be seriously restructured and reduced back to its original intended duties. The power and authority needs to be given back to the States and local districts so the people can govern the quality, method and requirements of their students, teachers and policies.

School Choice:

Every child has a right to an education, and every parent reserves the right to make the decision upon the best possible solution to that method. With these rights there are certain duties and responsibilities placed upon every parent to ensure their child is not deprived of the opportunities of acquiring an education of their choosing just as every child has a duty to attain the necessary skills provided by their educators.  Children should learn to yield to authority, but not be so yoked to tradition that it hinders them from recognizing bad policies nor the proper and lawful ways of changing bad policies. The ultimate burden falls on each child to make the most of all their education and not fall prey to a victim-minded opinion that eliminates effort regardless of the quality of their school.

We are currently seeing an increase on Federal and State requirements and mandates that prevent parents from effectively controlling how and where their children are indoctrinated. There have been so many civil laws governing our schools that it is making sending a child to school a legal risk for fear of violating a new restriction or offending a highly sensitive group. Returning civil morality back to our education institutes would regenerate the Freedom to Worship, speak and assemble peaceably so our society can benefit from God’s general welfare. If a local district agrees to open in prayer, that district provides the means for a child to opt out and until society changes its stand, they are protected to do so.

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 it states that, “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”  Parents have priority over the state in the lives of their children, and these rights are not only in academics, but also in the right to ensure that the “religious and moral education of their children are in conformity with their own convictions.”

School Funding:

There are many areas in our educational system that is lacking or inadequate, such as the No Child Left Behind, school lunch program and teachers unions, funds could have been appropriated in other areas at the local districts discretion to better suit the needs of the students in their community. Since the beginning of Federal aid, encouraged and driven by the Farm Bureau, National Education Association and other liberal groups, to give states additional funds to equalize the opportunities within their limits by subsidizing poor areas more heavily than others, and while this helps it provides no solution for entire states whose resources are comparatively poorer than those of other areas. Many citizens stress the dangers of federal domination; if federal funds are taken, sooner or later federal control will result.  This is quite evident in how far our educators have gotten from our fundamental principles of education, including the English language, our historical documents and civil government even respect for our own flag to name a few. Our current national government ran education has been compromised by a society of whose objective may be to give everyone a fair chance, but in reality, competition and merit gains respect and productivity not entitlement and watered down diplomas.

So before any true funding can be established, the state and local communities should govern the expenses needed for their children, publish a truthful cost per student and the district establish a real school tax for that district. The state would see that each district was represented and a particular minimum standard was met and if a community wanted to increase their institution, it would be established at the local level. This would boost competition of community involvement, build trust in society based on transparency of actual funds needed and the revenue actually reaching the intended arena, all citizens in the community would contribute at a flat rate and not based on property value. The local community would have the ability to govern how fast it grew, how much it spent, and see results of their investment sooner. Federal aid and influence would only be for limited charters and based on local assistance as oppose to larger general purses that give without much discretion to their effect or results.

Our entire society of government rests on the education of her people; the closer the people are to the duties of government the more protected she can be from those working to destroy her. Only a vigilant and engaged society can keep their freedom, and some things are just too important to be left up to a handful of bureaucrats in an office in Washington DC or any State, forcing the people to pay for poorly designed programs, unconstitutional mandates, over excessive expenditure of limited funds for areas of little effect.