Posted on 08/01/2023 7:58:33 AM PDT by Twotone
The Department of Education is withholding federal funding from hunting and archery programs in schools, citing a bipartisan law passed last year that tightened restrictions around gun purchases in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Texas.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said that the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed in the wake of the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, requires the department to withhold certain grant funds from archery and hunting programs in schools, according to Fox News.
"The prohibition went into effect immediately on June 25, 2022, and applies to all existing and future awards under all ESEA programs," the department told the outlet. "The department is administering the bipartisan law as written by Congress."
The specific provision in the act was an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that prohibits federal funds from going to programs that "provide to any person a dangerous weapon or training in the use of a dangerous weapon."
Tommy Floyd, the president of the National Archery in the Schools Program, lamented the new restrictions.
"It's a negative for children," Floyd told Fox News. "As a former educator of 30-plus years, I was always trying to find a way to engage students. In many communities, it's a shooting sport, and the skills from shooting sports, that help young people grow to be responsible adults. They also benefit from relationships with role models."
In a "frequently asked questions" document, the department says that the Stronger Connections grants, which were created in the 2022 law, should be used to "establish safer and healthier learning environments, and to prevent and respond to acts of bullying, violence, and hate that impact our school communities at individual and systemic levels, among other programs and activities."
The department's document says that the grants can be used to "invest in high-quality teaching and learning, including by implementing culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices," among other uses, including physical education programs. But the physical education programs cannot include hunting or archery programs, which is included in the prohibition on "training in the use of a dangerous weapon."
"A 'dangerous weapon'... is a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocketknife with a blade of less than 2 1/2 inches in length," the document says, citing U.S. law.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, a department spokesperson said the Stronger Connections grants were created to "provide all students with safe and supportive learning opportunities and environments that are critical for their success."
"The funds were released to [state education agencies] last September, and now the SEAs must award these funds competitively to high-need local educational agencies (LEAs), as determined by the state, to fund activities allowable under section 4108 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act," the department said.
True tyranny...we cannot allow this.
Remind me again, what were the reasons given for establishing the Dept. of Education?
Start of article: The Department of Education is withholding federal funding from hunting and archery programs in schools
There is a big difference in meaning here. Journalism has gone to dogs.
“Our” Federal government in action.
To paraphrase my Great grandfather in 1861. “I am ready for a divorce”
This stupidity will effect ROTC programs throughout the country.
Thank you - that was the first thing I noticed as well. Not that I am pleased with what they’ve done here, but I hate stilted reporting from either the left or the right trying to generate rage.
The recruits don’t know how to shoot anymore, SIR!
I’m all in favor of that.
I strongly oppose funding for standing armies, as our Founding Fathers did.
Well, programs involving weapons might teach weapon safety. That in turn would reduce accidental deaths from those weapons among children. Since progressives hate live children (see my tag line) and want to ban weapons, such school programs must not be allowed.
From Wikipedia:
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Education Organization Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on October 17, 1979.
The President’s 2023 Budget request is for [$]88.3 billion, which includes funding for children with disabilities (IDEA), pandemic recovery, early childhood education, Pell Grants, Title I, work assistance, among other programs.
The Department identifies four key functions:
Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds.
Collecting data on America’s schools and disseminating research.
Focusing national attention on key educational issues.
Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education
Related legislation
1965: Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
1965: Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) (Pub. L. No. 89-329)
1974: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
1974: Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA)
1975: Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) (Pub. L. No. 94-142)
1978: Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment
1980: Department of Education Organization Act (Pub. L. No. 96-88)
1984: Equal Access Act
1990: The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act)
1994: Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994
2001: No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
2004: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
2005: Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) (Pub. L. No. 109-171)
2006: Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act
2007: America COMPETES Act
2008: Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) (Pub. L. No. 110-315)
2009: Race to the Top
2009: Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act
2010: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
2015: Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education
And if that isn’t enough to bog your minds and eat up your tax dollars that could be used for teaching, they have more mischief in the works.
There is a big difference in meaning here. Journalism has gone to dogs.
In my public school experience, most fed funding goes into special ed programs and school lunch programs.
And in Minnesota if I lend you my deer rifle to hunt for a day I have violated the law. Minnesota is gone liberal crazy. No reason to live there anymore and 19,000 families have left the commie state.
When Trump is in whitehouse again he should double $$ going to schools that teach archery and hunting programs
That’s dictator stuff....
Most of the Federal government is unconstitutional. All regulatory law is unconstitutional. Nowhere does the Constitution allows the Congress to delegate its legislative power. The Executive department creating agencies with regulatory power is usurping the power of Congress.
FTA:
“A ‘dangerous weapon’... is a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocketknife with a blade of less than 2 1/2 inches in length,” the document says, citing U.S. law.”
What about cooking classes where 8” chefs’ knives are regularly used? Also shop and camping classes with hatchets and axes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.